THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


THE  COLLECTION  OF 
NORTH  CAROLINIANA 

PRESENTED  BY 

Theodore  C.  &  Betty  Lou  Kernsr 
Library  Fisr.ej 

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P984p 


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*  * 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.a  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 
ill 


00032690936 


FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


Samuel  A.  Pukdie. 


SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE 

HIS 

LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

HIS  WORK  AS  A  MISSIONARY 

AND 

Spanish  Writer  and  Publisher  in  Mexico   and 
Central    America 

BY 

JAMES  PURDIE  KNOWLES 


With  an  Introduction  by 
ALLEN  JAY 


'Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  ns 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime 
And  departing  leave  behind  as 
Footprints  on  the  sands  of  time. " 

—Longfellow 


PuBLiSBiNG  Association  or  Fbibkds, 
Plain  FIELD,  Indiana 


To    HER   WHO  SHARED  WITH   HIM,    THE   TOIL    AND 
STRUGGLES,     THE  DANGERS  AND    DISCOURAGE- 
MENTS,  AS    WELL    AS    THE    \^CTORY  AND 
BLESSINGS,     OF    THE    WORK     AND     TO 
THE    SON    WHO     HAS    WILLINGLY 
TAKEN  UP  THE  FALLEN  MAN- 
TLE,     THIS      VOLUME      IS 
AFFECTIONATELY  IN- 
SCRIBED BY   THE 
AUTHOR. 


P'^'^Mp 


PREFACE. 


It  is  usual  when  those  have  passed  away  who  by  their 
greatness,  their  goodness  or  by  their  talents,  or  ambition 
and  devotion  to  some  special  line  of  effort,  and  sometimes 
apparently  at  least  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  become 
land  marks  in  society,  or  stand  as  mountain  peaks  before 
the  world,  for  their  surviving  contemporaries,  to  leave  in 
permanent  form,  some  sketch  of  their  life  and  labors,  as  a 
memorial  to  them  and  an  historical  record  for  others 
who  follow  them. 

Such  annals  serve  as  an  inspiration  to  the  young  leading 
them  out  to  nobler  and  greater  efforts  in  life. 

We  trust  that  this  volume,  the  record  of  a  man  of  rare 
abilities  and  attainments,  who  gave  them  all  and  his  life 
also  for  the  upbuilding  of  humanity;  may  prove  an  incen- 
tive to  its  readeis  to  go  forth  with  renewed  courage  in  the 
battle  against  wrong  in  the  world. 

With  this  thought  in  mind  one  of  the  New  York  Friends 
interested  in  the  distribution  of  literature  cast  about  for  a 
writer  to  do  this  work,  and  made  inquiry  of  a  friend  of  the 
author  for  some  one  in  this  locality  who  would  accept  the 
task,  finding  no  one  else  attainable,  he  appealed  to  him 
to  take  it  up.  Quit^  unused  to  such  a  work  and  with 
limited  abilities  in  that  line,  it  was  with  much  reluctance 
that  he  consented,  in  consideration  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
a  relative  as  well  as  a  life-long  acquaintance  and  friend  of 
the  subject. 

It  has  been  a  labor  of  love,  otherwise  the  hindrances 
and  discouragements  which  have  arisen  might  have  caused 
its  abandonment. 

The  task  was  accepted  in  the  summer  of  1904,  in  the  au- 
tumn, material  was  collected  consisting  of  several  hundred 
letters  which  he  had  written  to  the  old  folks  at  home;  the 
family  having  all  passed  away  they  were  left  with  a  rela- 
tive who  willingly  surrendered  them;  also  a  package  from 


iv  PREFACE 

the  wife  and  son  in  North  Carolina,  containing  his  early 
journal,  many  letters  written  to  them  in  his  absence,  pa- 
pers, etc.,  added  to  these  were  several  letters  to  the 
writer,  and  he  is  also  indebted  for  letters  from  Perrin 
Reynolds,  a  friend  and  companion  of  Samuel  in  North 
Carolina,  from  Santiago  G.  Gonzalez  and  Andres  Campillo 
Spanish  co-workers  in  Mexico,  and  to  Joseph  M.  Purdie 
for  the  translation  of  their  communications  and  especially 
to  Allen  Jay  of  Richmond,  Indiana,  for  the  introduction 
to  this  volume. 

Having  secured  the  material,  work  was  commenced  early 
in  1905,  but  springtime  brought  duties  which  laid  it  by  with 
the  expectation  that  it  would  be  taken  up  again  in  the  au- 
tumn, if  not  sooner;  but  with  the  falling  of  the  leaves,  the 
loved  life  long  companion  of  the  writer  was  stricken  with 
fatal  illness  and  after  four  months  of  intense  suffering 
passed  to  the  life  beyond,  a  rest  seemed  necessary  so  the 
work  was  delayed  until  the  winter  of  1906  and  1907,  since 
which  with  many  interruptions  and  hindrances  not  the  least 
of  which  was  a  thorn  in  the  flesh  by  which  the  writer  is 
handicapped,  it  has  been  going  forward. 

Many  of  the  letters  were  very  lengthy  and  abound  in  de- 
scriptive detail  expressed  in  beautiful  language,  thus  cal- 
ling for  much  reading  and  study  in  the  selection  of  so 
small  a  portion  as  space  would  permit. 

While  we  have  sought  to  make  it  as  free  as  possible  from 
errors,  it  is  quite  possible  that  the  readers  will  find  some 
mistakes,  and  we  ask  their  kind  indulgence  for  the  same. 

Smyrna,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  1908.  J.  P.  Knowles. 


INTRODUCTION. 


Over  fifty  years  ago  Commodore  Perry  sailed 
into  the  harbor  of  the  Japanese  capital  and  held  re- 
ligious services  on  board  his  warships,  while  on  the 
gates  of  their  city  the  Japanese  had  posted  the 
warnmg  that  if  any  one  tried  to  introduce  the 
Christian  religion  they  would  cut  his  head  off. 
Perry  remained  there,  entered  into  a  treaty  with 
them  and  the  gates  were  opened.  Not  only  have 
the  gates  of  their  cities  been  opened  but  also  the 
doors  of  their  homes.  China  has  followed.  Other 
nations  have  heard  the  knock  and  have  swung  their 
doors  open  to  receive  the  light  until  today  the  dark 
places  of  the  earth  are  reaching  out  their  hands 
for  help. 

The  history  of  the  foreign  mission  work  among 
Friends  reveals  the  fact  that  it  came  into  the 
church  soon  after  the  revival  movement.  Some 
forty  years  ago  a  number  of  the  members  of  Indi- 
ana Yearly  Meeting  organized  a  committee  on  this 
subject.  This  committee  realized  the  leading  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  that  direction  and  the  object  of 
their  organization  was  to  foster  and  encourage  this 
work,  and  to  extend  the  helping  hand  to  those  who 
might  feel  a  call  to  the  foreign  field.  About  the 
same  time  individuals  in  different  parts  of  the 
church  began  to  feel  that  the  Lord  was  calling  them 
to  this  work  and  they  began  to  make  applications 
to  the  committee  to    enter    different  missionary 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

fields.  Lewis  and  Sarah  Street  heard  the  call  from 
Madagascar  and  they  went  out  under  the  care  of 
the  English  committee.  Elkanah  and  Ireua  Bean 
saw  India  in  their  vision.  Joel  and  Hannah  Bean 
were  impressed  that  the  Sandwich  Islands  were 
their  field.  Eli  and  Sybil  Jones,  who  had  visited 
Liberia  on  a  missionary  tour  as  early  as  1851,  also 
some  places  in  Europe,  were  now  stirring  up  New 
England  and  stating  that  they  had  found  a  field  in 
Palestine.  So  the  missionary  spirit  was  abroad 
in  the  church. 

When  the  Baltimore  Association  called  us  to  take 
charge  of  the  work  in  North  Carolina,  I  found  one 
of  the  teachers  who  had  come  to  that  field  from 
New  York,  who  had  caught  the  same  spirit  and 
was  feeling  that  Mexico  was  calling  him  to  come 
over  and  help.  He  was  not  enjoying  the  work  he 
was  engaged  in  for  his  mind  was  in  Mexico.  This 
man  was  Samuel  A.  Purdie.  The  second  year  I 
was  there  this  was  impressed  on  me  so  clearly  that 
I  never  doubted  it  again.  Driving  up  to  the  school- 
house  at  Back  Creek  one  day,  at  the  noon  recess,  I 
found  him  out  in  the  woods  sitting  on  an  old  log, 
with  an  aged  Spanish  miner  sitting  by  his  side, 
engaged  in  studying  the  Spanish  language.  When 
I  came  up  he  said,  "Excuse  me,  for  I  must  obtain 
a  knowledge  of  Spanish,"  and  in  a  serious  manner 
added,  "Some  day  the  Lord  will  open  the  way  for 
me  to  use  this  knowledge  to  his  glory."  So  a  few 
months  after  this  time,  when  Charles  F.  Cofiin,  of 
Richmond,  Indiana,  wrote  to  know  my  opinion 
about    Samuel  A.  Purdie 's    going  to  Mexico  as  a 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

missionary,  I  was  prepared  to  give  my  approval. 
There  was  no  doubt  but  that  he  was  filled  with  a 
true  missionary  spirit.  His  mind  and  heart  were 
there  in  body.  It  was  not  home  to  him  anywhere 
else.  He  rejoiced  when  the  time  came  for  him  to 
leave  all  and  go,  and  when  he  received  the  word 
that  he  was  accepted  by  the  committee,  it  did  not 
take  him  long  to  be  on  the  way. 

He  came  to  our  house  one  evening  with  his 
youthful  wife.  It  was  a  night  long  to  be  remem- 
bered. We  talked  until  a  late  hour  of  the  work 
ahead  of  them.  Neither  of  us  knew  much  about 
what  foreign  missionary  work  meant,  but  the  way 
looked  bright  before  him.  To  him  it  was  the  way 
of  duty.  His  wife,  who  was  leaving  all  her  people, 
was  nevertheless  cheerful  in  the  prospect  of  the 
work  befere  them.  We  loaded  what  few  goods 
they  had  into  the  spring  wagon  and  drove  to  the 
depot  at  High  Point,  where  they  took  the  train.  A.s 
I  watched  the  train  go  out  of  sight  I  turned  away 
feeling  that  it  was  carrying  a  man  who  was  going 
cheerfully  at  the  call  of  the  Master.  He  believed 
the  Master  had  other  sheep  who  were  not  of  this 
fold  and  he  was  going  iu  the  name  of  the  Shep- 
herd to  bring  them  in. 

Years  rolled  on.  He  stood  at  his  post  and  the 
Lord  blessed  the  work.  The  church  was  organ- 
ized and  the  seed  sown,  not  only  by  the  voice  but 
by  the  printing  press  with  which  he  was  provided 
by  Friends  in  New  York  State.  Through  the  press 
the  Spanish  speaking  people,  not  only  in  Mexico 
but  in  other  places  also  heard  the  message  of  the 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

gospel.  Today  the  work  is  spreading.  Others 
have  entered  in  and  are  gathering  the  whitened 
harvest. 

The  time  came  when  he  believed  that  he  heard 
the  call  to  another  portion  of  the  vineyard.  There 
was  no  hesitation  on  his  part.  He  hastened  on  and 
entered  this  latter  field,  and  when  the  Master 
called  he  found  him  "faithful  unto  death."  He 
laid  down  his  life  among  those  he  loved. 

Thus  lived  and  died  Samuel  A.  Purdie.  Others 
may  have  been  just  as  devoted,  may  have  done  a 
greater  work,  but  none  have  been  more  loyal,  none 
possessed  a  truer  missionary  spirit. 

Allen  Jay. 


List  of  Illustrations. 

Samuel    A.    Purdie Frontispiece 

Pacing  Page 

Samuel  A    Purdie' s  Birthplace 25 

The  C.  G.  Hussey  School  for  Girls   107 

Meetinuf  House  at  Gomez  Far  as 125 

Samuel  A.  Purdie  and  Family 139 

Eiisco  and  Eva  L.  Mascorro 148 

Gertrudis  G.  G.  De  Ureste  157 

Silver  Wedding  Group 183 

Townsend.  Moody  and  Purdie 187 


CONTENTS. 


Page 
..      3 


PREFACE  

INTRODUCTION 5 


CHAPTER  I. 
ANCESTRY. 


Scotch.  Removal  to  England.  In  busines3  as  a  weaver. 
Contact  with  Friends.  Joininsr  the  Society.  Financial 
embarrassment.  Removal  to  America.  A  stormy  voy- 
age. In  Canada.  Back  to  New  Yoric.  Their  home  at 
Smyrna.  Samuel's  marriage.  Howard  Ancestry  Lo- 
cated at  Columbus ^^ 

CHAPTER  II. 

CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH. 

Location.  Birthplace.  An  Humble  Home.  A  Mother's 
Teaching.  His  love  of  nature  and  of  Literature.  A 
family    encyclopedia.      His    schooling.     Reading     and 

study  at  home.    Teaching  school 25 

CHAPTER  III. 

RELIGIOUS  EXPERIENCES. 

Parental  traits.  Inherent  tendencies.  Doubts  and  difficul- 
ties. His  journal.  Extracts  from  a  former  one.  Com- 
ments and  quotations.  Interrupted  by  teaching  school. 
Fear  of  a  call.  A  lost  opportunity.  A  New  Year's 
Prayer.  Courtmartialed.  Brother's  death.  Prophetic 
pointings.  Closer  to  Friends.  Looking  toward  teach- 
ing in  the  South.     Attends  New  York  Yearly  Meeting    30 

CHAPTER  IV. 

TEACHER  AND  PREACHER. 

Going  to  North  Carolina.  On  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  Bat- 
tle grounds.    Friends  meeting  house.    Opening  school. 


X  CONTENTS 

Incidents  among  the  Freedmen.  Appearance  in  the  mi  - 
istry.  North  Carolina  Yearly  Meeting.  Meets  Eli 
Jones  and  others.  Joseph  Moore.  School  prospering-. 
In  Normal  school.  ''Not  much  larnin."  Teaching  at 
Back  Creek.  Social  life.  Astronomy.  Sabbath  School 
Work.  Lovely  Carolina.  Loving  People.  A  letter 
from  Parrin  Reynolds.  A  good  school.  A  Normal. 
"Quakerism  in  Dixie. "    Teaching  among  Freedmen.     38 

CHAPTER  V. 

MARRIAGE. 

Friends  at  Back  Creek.     The   Hoovers.     Close  of   School. 

The    Wedding.     Trip    northward.      Life   at    old   home. 

Ministry.     Return   South.     Farming    and    teaching.     A 

full  school.     Letter  from  Allen   Jay.     Resigns  farm  life. 

52 

CHAPTER  VI. 

MISSION  FJELDS. 

Travels  in  the  ministry.  Looking  toward  Mexico.  A  call 
to  Richmond,  Ind.  A  marked  coincidence.  A  Spanish 
teacher.  The  work  accepted.  Trip  to  Mexico.  Del 
tained  at  Matamoras.  The  work  opening.  A  printing 
press.  Need  of  School  books.  Called  for  outside  the 
mission.  Learning  the  language.  An  interesting  inci- 
dent. The  responsibility  of  the  work.  Mechanica 
skill.    Under  siege.     Bathing  in  the  Rio  Grande. .. .     57 

CHAPTER  VII. 

MINGLED  RACES. 

Social  Traits.  Reliability.  A  peaceable  admixture.  A 
peon.  Mexican  slavery.  Estovan  Galegos.  Brother- 
hood       65 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

AS  PUBLISHER. 

Religion  and  Science.  War  vs.  Peace.  The  Per  iodical 
Books  as  remedies.    Under  Siege.    Printing  press.     The 


CONTENTS  xi 

Flores  sisters.  Three  languages.  A  busy  life.  Sab- 
bath School  meeting.  The  mission  funds.  Scattering 
the  truth.  School  books.  Peace  again.  Prevalence  of 
fever.  An  arid  region.  A  donation.  Fluent  in  Span- 
ish.    Plans.     Change  of  residence.     A  wind  storm. . .     69 

CHAPTER  IX. 
A  VISIT  TO  VICTORIA. 

Location.  The  journey.  Improved  health.  Fear  for  Gu- 
lielma.  Added  workers.  The  Biufords.  New  Experien- 
ces. Busy  day.  Low  funds.  Return  of  the  Binfords. 
Added  funds "^S 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  STORY  OF  ANGELITA. 

Birthplace.  Early  days.  Roman  Superstition.  Father's 
death.  Removal  to  San  Fernando.  Catholic  education. 
Resolved  to  be  a  Protestant.  She  unites  with  Friends. 
Her  sister  also 84 

CHAPTER  XI. 

VISIT  TO  TAMAULIPAS. 

A  stormy  voyage.  Through  the  breakers.  A  storm  at  sea, 
A  school  of  porpoise.  A  calm.  A  long  voyage.  On  foot. 
The  country.  The  market.  Trip  to  Tancol.  Puebla  Vi- 
ego.  Religious  labor.  Antiquities.  Hastened  return. 
On  the  Alba.     A  stormy  time.     Well  at  home 90 

CHAPTER  XII. 

REVOLUTION. 

General  Diaz  at  Brownsville.  A  Sabbath  Attack.  The 
Victory.  Quiet  restored.  At  his  post.  Return  of  gov- 
ernment forces.  No  resistance,  A  turbulent  summer. 
Horrors  of  war.  Political  chaos.  A  night  attack. 
Diaz  sweeping  the  south.  Cortinez  enters  Matamoras. 
A  touching  incident 98 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

PEACE  AND  PROSPERITY. 

The  meeting  increases.  A  remarkable  incident.  El  Tejon. 
Schools  flourishing.  Independence  of  opinion  Change 
of  teachers,  f'edro  Gonzalez.  Francisco  Pena.  A 
wedding.  Mexican  Marriages.  Julio  Gonzalez  Gea. 
A  useful  member.     A  distant  member 107 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

VICISSITUDES. 

On  the  Gulf.  A  gloomy  letter.  Stereotyping.  His  li- 
brary. Yellow  fever.  Faithful  Shepherds.  Letter  to 
Perrin  Reynolds.  Trip  to  Gomez  Farias.  A  ride  to 
San  Fernando.  On  horseback  to  Gomez  Farias.  The 
Southern  Cross.  A  mountain  path.  A  beautiful  vil- 
lage.   Father  Lozano 114 

CHAPTER  XV. 

BUILDING  CHAPEL. 

On   Liberty    Square.     Many     sick.      Angelita's    journey 
City  of  Victoria.     Image  of  the  Virgin 125 

CHAPTER  XVL 

THE  HURRICANE. 

A  dark  night.  Ruined  Homes.  Hurricane  of  1867  and 
1874.  A  midnight  tour  of  inspection.  Bailing  out  the 
water.  Brother  J.  G.  Gea.  Small  pox  epidemic.  Wil- 
liam A.  Walls  goes  to  Gomez  Farias.  Return.  Inci- 
dent with  highwayman.  From  jest  to  earnest.  Guliel- 
ma  in  North  Carolina.  The  epidemic.  Samuel  has 
pneumonia.  Encarnation  Gonzalez.  Goes  to  Gomez 
Farias.     Angelinas  return  and  death 129 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

VISIT  TO  THE  HOME  LAND. 

Takes  Janita  and  Petra.  Arrival  at  Back  Creek.  Moves 
northward.    To  Indiana.    The  reunion  at  home.  Return 


CONTENTS  xiii 

in  the  autumn.  Janita  goes  to  Earlham  College.  Mar- 
riage of  Wm,  A.  Walls.  The  office  work.  A  heavy  bur- 
den.    The    call    of  duty      A    Summer     outing.     Yellow 

fever 139 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

TO  THE  SOUTHERN  MISSION  WITH  ISAAC  SHARP. 

To  Gomez  Farias,  The  return  trip.  "A  time  of  storm" 
and  mud.  Some  curious  plants.  Home  life  brightening. 
Rushing  the  work.  A  railroad.  Visit  San  Fernando. 
Joseph  gets  the  smallpox.  Trip  to  Soto  La  Marina. 
Sabbath  service.  Joseph  questions.  Isaac  Sharp.  Ju- 
lia L.  Ballenger.  Killing  rattle  snakes.  Trophies  for 
England.  Isaac's  return.  Samuel  goes  to  Gomez 
Farias.  Building  the  meeting  house.  Its  location.  An- 
cient ruins.     Again  at  home 144 

CHAPTER   XIX. 
THE  HOME  "WORK. 

Quarne.  A  New  press.  A  feeling  letter.  New  helper.  A 
visit  to  Gomez  Farias.  A  plague  of  locusts.  A  board- 
ing school  building.  A  stormy  election.  A  trip  south- 
ward with  Mahala  Jay  and  Gertrudis  G.  G,  de  Ureste. 
Moves  to  Matamoras  Street.  His  mother's  death.  A 
trip  to  Richmond.  Flying  yisits.  At  New  Orleans. 
Storm  on  the  Gulf 153 

CHAPTER  XX. 

REMOVAL  TO  VICTORIA. 

Smallpox.  Return  of  Frances'  father.  Moves  his  family 
to  Victoria.  Elevation  and  Climate.  The  Alameda. 
Trip  to  Matamoras.  Margaret  M.  Marriage.  A  letter 
to  his  father  from  Matamoras.  Meets  Murray  Shipley. 
In  storm  on  the  Gulf.  At  Matamoras.  Prostrated  with 
congestive  chills.  Again  at  Victoria.  A  horse-back 
ride.  On  furlough.  In  North  Carolina.  Once  more  at 
the  old  home.  The  Pan  American  eonferfnce.  Visits 
President  Harrison.  A  we«k  in  North  Carolina.  The 
return 161 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XXr. 

FIXAXCIAL  BURDENS. 

Financial  responsibilities.  Purchasing  school  buildings. 
Making  repairs.  A  public  servant.  A  man  of  all  trades. 
A  railroad.  Acting  Vice  Consul.  Many  responsibili- 
ties. Summoned  to  Matamoras.  A  new  correspondent. 
Removal  of  the  business  to  Victoria.  Emma  Caven- 
dish. The  typhoid  fever  hospital.  A  letter  to  the  au- 
thor. On  the  school  board.  Building  a  residence.  Jo- 
seph's help.  A  missionary  rest.  Generous  bequest. 
Has  yard  and  garden.  Nature  studies.  A  letter  to  his 
brother.  A  country  home.  A  letter  to  the  author.  Pub- 
lic service 170 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  SECOND  VISIT  OF  ISAAC  SHARP. 

His  arrival.  A  letter  to  the  writer.  Interpreter.  A  sil- 
ver wedding.  Memorial  trees.  "Human  flesh  vs.  patch- 
work." The  abundant  fruits  in  the  tropics.  Agraphia 
narrative.  A  fatal  storm.  Deep  snow.  A  busy  day. 
Letter  to  his  brother.  A  telescope.  Joseph  the  ob- 
server   182 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

CONFERENCE  AT  TOLUCA. 

Another  interesting  letter.  A  large  conference.  Volcano 
of  Nevado.  The  great  divide.  Snow  capped  Popocata- 
pel.  Mexico.  Its  antiquities  and  wonders.  A  wireless 
message.     Hastening  homeward 187 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  NORTHLAND. 

W.  J.  Kelsey  at  the  bead.  The  family  come  to  North  Car- 
olina. He  goea  northward  alone.  A  man  of  culture. 
Surrender  the  work.  Faithful  service.  Considering 
Central  America.  Accepts  an  appointment.  A  letter  to 
the  writer.     The    meand     forthcoming.      Gulielma     and 


CONTENTS  XV 

Joseph  in  North  Carolina.  The  Central  American  Mis- 
sionary Association.  A  journey  to  Texas.  Then  to 
Victoria.      On   toward    the    south.      Last   letter     from 

Victoria 190 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

XHE  JOURNEY  SOUTHWARD. 

Last  farewell.    Tampico  at  midnight.     A  Sabbath  service. 

On  board  the  Spero.  At  Goatzocoacos.  Railroad  to 
.    Tehuantepec.     The  route.     The   city.     The   people.     The 

first    Sabbath.     Among    Catholics.     Boarding   himself. 

A   letter    to    his    wife.     Ways    of    the    people.    A  long 

delay 197 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  ZAPOTECAS. 

The  primitive  race.  A  long  letter.  A  letter  to  his  wife. 
Love  of  display.  A  kindly  quiet  people.  Drunken  fes- 
tivities.    An  interesting  race 204 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  LONG  DELAY. 

Waiting  for  steamer.  A  severe  trial.  Translating.  A 
letter  to  Joseph.  One  to  his  wife.  First  visit  to  the  Pa- 
cific. Landing  the  passengers.  Loneliness.  His  best 
literary  work.    Thankfulness 214 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  NEW  FIELD. 

On  the  "Barranconta."  Death  of  a  passenger.  At  his 
destination.  A  letter  to  Joseph.  A  study  of  the  situa- 
tion. A  letter  to  the  writer.  Astronomy  and  agricul- 
ture. Izalco  and  Ilopango.  Annual  festivities.  A  let- 
ter to  the  "American  Friend."  Prices  high.  Boards 
himself.  Feast  of  San  Salvador.  Idolatry.  Visit  to 
Mexicanos.  Union  between  state  and  church.  Letter  to 
G.  W.  Hoover.  Another  to  the  author.  P#nzotti.  Op- 
position. Yellow  fever.  His  family  in  New  York. 
They  join  him.    Letter   to  the  Central   American  BuUe- 


xvi  CONTENTS 

tin.    R.  H.  Bender.    A  printing  press.     First  number  of 
La  Luz  de   la  Verdad 218 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

CLOSING  SCENES. 

Press  work  ag'ain.  A  slight  accident.  A  fatal  result.  His 
last  letter.  Unfinished.  Lockjaw  in  the  tropics.  A  re- 
markable card.  A  lonel}'  home.  Heroic  lives.  Return 
to  North  Carolina.  Joseph  at  Guilford  College.  Mar- 
ried and  went  to  Cuba 234 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

IN  MEMORICM. 

Remarks.  His  rare  endowment.  His  wide  experience. 
The  great  promotion.  The  Heavenly  welcome.  A  sketch 
by  W.  A,  Walls.  Letter  (.f  Rev.  Luther  Rees.  One 
from  Andres  Campillo.  And  also  one  from  Santiago  G. 
Gonzales 240 


Life  and  Letters  of 

SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE 

CHAPTER  I. 

ANCESTRY. 

Blessed  are  the  happy  parents 

Of  those  who  in  this  world's  wild  strife, 

By  being  grandly  strenuous 

Stand  sun-crowned  at  the  goal  of  life. 

While  it  is  the  privilege  of  every  individual  by 
the  best  use  of  the  gifts  God  has  bestovs^ed  upon 
them  to  build  up  a  noble  and  useful  life,  whether  it 
be  in  the  humble  walks  of  society  or  in  those  more 
exalted;  still  it  is  common  to  look  to  ancestry  for 
the  prototypes  of  the  gifts  by  the  use  of  which  men 
become  famous.  So  perhaps  we  need  make  no 
apology  for  introducing  our  readers  to  the  rugged 
Scottish  life  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

James  Purdie,  the  grandfather  of  our  subject 
was  born  in  Kilmarneck,  near  Paisley,  Scotland, 
Jan.  10,  1768.  His  youth  was  spent  among  the 
mountains  and  lakes  that  gave  inspiration  to  the 
poet  Burns  whose  wife,  Jean  Amous,  was  his 
cousin. 

In  a  family  of  six  children  he  was  the  only  son. 
We  know  but  little  of  the  father  except  a  well  pre- 
served tradition,  that  he  was  a  descendent  of  the 


18  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

famous  clan  of  Percy,  but  that  in  some  of  the  Scot- 
tish wars  for  political  reasons,  the  name  was 
changed  to  Purdie.  When  James  was  in  his  child- 
hood his  parents  died  and  he  went  to  live  with  an 
uncle,  schooled  in  the  austere  creed  of  Calvin  and 
ICnox.  life  was  to  him  a  stern  reality  and  prompted 
him  as  guardian  of  the  orphan  boy  to  follow  the 
maxim  spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the  child  so  his  life 
•could  not  have  been  a  very  sunny  one,  for  the  uncle 
was  wont  to  punish  with  undue  severity  the  way- 
wardness of  the  lad.  In  that  city  widely  known 
for  its  woven  fabrics,  he  learned  the  trade  of  a 
weaver,  all  of  which  was  hand  work  in  those  days. 

In  July  1794  he  married  Marion,  daughter  of 
Alexander  and  Margaret  Dunlop,  Lisle  of  Paisley. 
Little  strangers  came  to  stay  with  them  until  there 
were  five  in  the  family,  when  in  1802  he  moved  to 
Norwich  England,  where  he  started  into  business 
for  himself  as  a  weaver  of  silks,  bombazines  and 
shawls,  and  gradually  extended  his  work  until  he 
gave  employment  to  many  others  in  his  prosperous 
business. 

Here  on  June  12,  1804,  their  fourth  son  Samuel 
was  born  and  after  him  four  sisters  and  one  brother 
were  added  to  the  family  besides  several,  one  a 
twin,  who  died  in  infancy. 

Samuel  received  his  education  in  a  school  taught 
by  Priscilla  Gurney,  a  sister  of  Elizabeth  Pry, 
later  three  of  his  sisters  and  one  brother  attended 
Ackworth,  the  Friends  High  School  for  the 
kingdom. 

Norwich  was  the  home  of  the  Gurneys,  thatfam- 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  19 

ily  so  well  known  in  Quaker  history,  especially  for 
the  great  controversolist  Joseph  John  Gurney  as 
well  as  the  world-wide  philanthropist  his  sister 
Elizabeth  Fry. 

James  Purdie  and  his  wife  had  been  nurtured  in 
the  Presbyterian  church  of  Scotland  but  contact 
with  these  and  other  Friends  about  them  led  them 
finally  to  the  acceptance  of  Friends  principles,  and 
a  request  for  membership  in  the  society;  a  change 
that  met  with  some  resentment  for  a  time  by  her 
father  but  which  was  finally  forgiven. 

They  accepted  heartily  the  ways  and  customs  as 
well  as  the  doctrines  of  the  society  and  sought  to 
be  active,  useful  members  honoring  the  sect  of 
their  choice  by  their  exemplary  lives. 

The  fellowship  and  intimacy  of  the  family  with 
the  Gurneys  and  Frys  in  those  days  of  their  public 
activity  brought  to  their  knowledge  many  incidents 
and  experiences  to  be  narrated  in  later  years  to 
their  descendant  its  impress  upon  their  young 
Mves  was  in  some  of  them  undoubtedly  a  potent 
factor  in  the  building  of  their  character. 

Among  their  neighbors  and  acquaintances  they 
could  number  Amelia  Opie,  Harriet  Martineau  and 
WiUiam  Grimshaw,  afterward  celebrated  authors. 

James  Purdie  assisted  by  his  sons  had  extended 
his  business  very  successfully  up  to  1826,  when  a 
general  financial  depression  so  embarrassed  him 
that  rather  than  to  go  on  and  perhaps  sacrifice  his 
credit  and  wrong  his  creditors,  he  chose  to  close 
his  shops,  sell  his  property  and  pay  his  debts. 

Having  a  httle  money  left,  his  friends  urged  him 


20  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

to  start  again  in  business  offering  him  pecuniary 
assistance,  but  he  declined  their  proffered  aid  and 
decided  to  try  their  fortune  in  the  new  world,  so 
early  in  the  spring  of  1827  he  gathered  his  family 
(except  the  oldest  son  Alexander  who  was  already 
married  and  did  not  come  until  later),  Marion  from 
Ackworth  school  and  Margaret  the  oldest  daugh- 
ter from  a  delightful  winter's  sojourn  among  her 
relatives  and  friends  in  Scotland;  they  all  met  at 
Liverpool  and  embarked  on  an  old  sailing  vessel 
lor  New  York;  the  voyage  proved  a  very  stormy 
one,  so  they  were  tossed  for  six  weeks  on  the  roll- 
ing billows  of  the  Atlantic.  A  journey  that  is  made 
by  modern  liners  in  six  days. 

The  writer  has  frequently  heard  his  mother,  the 
oldest  daughter  Margaret  then  in  her  twentieth 
year,  relate  to  her  children  the  perils  of  that  stormy 
voyage,  until  his  young  mind  became  so  filled  with 
dread  of  the  ocean,  that  many  years  of  knowledge 
and  experience  in  life  were  necessary  to  efface  it. 

The  roughness  of  the  sea  soon  caused  the  ship  to 
spring  a  leak  and  to  prevent  danger  from  it  the 
pumps  were  put  to  work,  not  by  steam,  but  by 
hand  power,  so  continuous  and  arduous  did  the 
task  become  that  the  men  among  the  passengers 
were  called  upon  to  help  in  the  work  and  for  days 
together  they  were  obliged  to  take  their  turn  and 
relieve  the  crew. 

So  severe  was  the  storm  that  much  fear  was  felt 
for  the  safety  of  the  vessel  so  much  that  when  a 
passing  ship  which  came  along  sid^  offered  to  take 
the  passengers  on  board,  the  captain  said  that  the 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  21 

women  and  children  might  go,  but  that  the  men 
must  remain  to  assist  the  crew,  an  alternative  they 
did  not  see  fit  to  accept,  preferring  to  share  to- 
gether the  fearful  dangers  of  the  voyage  rather 
than  be  separated. 

Margaret,  who  had  become  somewhat  familiar 
witli  the  captain,  had  asked  him  if  it  was  not  a  very 
bad  storm  and  he  playfully  told  her  that  when  she 
saw  two  men  at  the  helm  and  his  hair  standing  on 
end  she  might  conclude  it  was  a  severe  storm;  so 
as  it  continued  with  increasing  fury  for  days  to 
come,  she  concluded  to  go  on  deck  and  investigate; 
on  going  up  the  hatchway  she  met  the  captain  and 
in  response  to  her  request  to  see  if  there  were  two 
men  at  the  helm,  he  told  her  that  it  was  no  place 
for  her  up  there,  and  hfting  her  in  his  strong  arms 
he  carried  her  back  into  the  cabin,  his  hair  she 
thought  already  on  end  thus  confirming  her  worst 
fears  over  the  situation. 

But  time  will  pass  and  after  six  weeks  of  strug- 
gle with  the  elements  the  welcome  cry  of  "land 
ahead"  rang  through  the  ship  and  they  finally 
passed  up  the  harbor  to  their  landing  in  New  York 
a  thankful  and  happy  company.  They  came  ex- 
pecting to  locate  on  British  soil,  so  passing  up  the 
Hudson  to  Albany  they  took  a  packet  boat  on  the 
recently  completed  Erie  Canal.  In  those  days 
when  railroads  were  unknown  this  mode  of  travel 
was  quite  pleasant  and  satisfactory,  irksome  as  it 
would  seem  to  the  world  today. 

From  Buffalo  they  passed  on  to  British    soil. 
And  taking  up  Crown  lands  near  Lake  Simpcoe  he 


22  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

purchased  three  hundred  acres  and  then  started 
in  as  a  backwoodsman,  the  change  from  city  hfe  to 
country  hfe,  from  silk  weaving  to  wood  chopping 
was  a  great  change.  Bears  killed  their  hogs  and 
James  and  Samuel  who  went  farther  into  the 
wilds  were  pursued  by  wolves,  and  Samuel  lost 
his  favorite  silk  umbrella  in  a  fight  with  a  lynx  or 
a  wild  cat,  only  rescuing  the  ivory  handle  as  a 
memento. 

After  a  brief  sojourn  in  Canada  they  decided  to 
abandon  pioneer  life  and  returned  to  New  York 
Mills  near  Utica,  N.  Y.,  where  some  of  the  family 
found  employment  in  the  Mills  and  remained  there 
until  the  autumn  of  1831,  when  they  purchased  a 
farm  in  the  town  of  Smyrna,  N.  Y.,  and  removed 
there.  This  was  the  last  home  of  the  parents  and 
remained  in  possession  of  the  family  until  within  a 
few  years. 

Some  of  the  boys  worked  the  farm,  while  the 
father  agam  turned  to  his  old  pursuit,  as  weaver, 
so  with  his  rare  mechanical  skill  and  inventive 
genius  he  soon  had  a  shop  well  equipped  for  weav- 
ing such  fabrics  as  table  spreads,  bed  spreads  and 
coverlids  of  linen  or  cotton  or  wool,  some  of  the 
latter  woven  in  two  thicknesses  with  contrasted 
colors  on  the  opposite  sides,  figured  with  beautiful 
designs  and  bordered  with  lions  or  eagles,  were 
unique  and  rare  productions  which  have  been 
handed  down  as  heirlooms  in  many  of  the  families 
of  the  section. 

James  Purdie,  never  robust,  being  of  modei'ate 
stature  and  slender  build  with  a  highly  nervous 


OP  SAMUEL  A.   PURDIE  23 

temperment  passed  away  in  one  of  the  closing  days 
of  1839,  at  the  age  of  72,  his  wife  more  vigorous  and 
enduring  Uved  to  her  83rd  year.     Soon  after  com- 
ing to  Smyrna  Samuel  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
young  woman,  a  teacher  of  select  schools  among 
the  Friends  of  Smyrna  and  Brooklield,  a  woman  of 
marked    abihty    and    good    culture,     having    an 
academic  education  embracing  nearly  all  the  nat- 
ural sciences,  especially  astronomy  and  chemistry. 
Her  name  was  Waity,  the  daughter  of  Stephen 
and  Lucinda  Angel  Howard  who  came  from  Rhode 
Island  and  settled  in  Columbus,  N.  Y.,   in    1802. 
The  next  year  he  built  a  house  on  a  farm  about  half 
a  mile  east  of  Columbus  village  where  he  resided 
until  his  death  in  1847,  here  Waity,  the  oldest  of 
of  the  seven  children  (three  of  whom  died  in  child- 
hood) was  born  and  reared. 

Stephen's  father  was  Wilham  the  fifth  of  the 
seven  sons  of  Isaac  Howard  who  came  from  Eng- 
land about  1722  landing  at  Marblehead,  Mass.,  and 
settled  in  what  is  now  Foster,  R.  I.  His  family 
were  noted  for  there  stature  none  of  the  seven 
being  less  than  six  feet,  one  being  six  feet  six 
inches  and  another  six  feet  five  inches  in  height. 

William  is  known  in  the  annals  of  Rhode  Island 
as  a  revolutionary  soldier.  The  Howards  were  a 
family  of  great  energy  and  force  of  character 
traits  which  were  inherited  very  largely  by  their 
daughter  Waity.  The  housewife  where  she  taught 
one  of  the  schools  referred  to  above  used  to  say 
that  she  frequently  expressed  her  ideas  of  family 
government  and  kindred  topics  in  those  days  and 


24  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

that  in  after  years  she  came  nearer  f ulfiUing  her 
ideals  than  any  other  woman  she  liad  known. 

It  is  recorded  that  Stephen  Howard  was  active 
in  the  work  of  the  Universahst  church,  however 
much  the  daughters  may  have  been  led  by  precept 
and  example  in  that  belief,  her  acquaintence  and 
intercourse  with  the  Friends  led  her  to  join  the 
Society  about  the  time  of  her  marriage  to  Samuel 
Purdie  which  occured  February  23,  1836.  They 
lived  for  one  season  in  Smyrna  and  then  bought 
a  farm  about  a  mile  from  her  fathers  in  Colum- 
bus where  they  settled,  reared  a  family  and  lived 
the  remainder  of  their  days.  It  was  an  upland 
farm  of  light  soil  and  it  was  only  by  industry  and 
economy  that  they  were  able  to  enjoy  the  necessar- 
ies not  to  say  the  luxuries  of  life  and  lay  by  a  little 
for  old  age  and  a  rainy  day.  The  younger  son  Wil- 
liam remained  at  home  and  worked  the  farm  thro 
their  declining  years  and  kept  it  until  his  death  in 
1901  when  it  passed  from  the  family  into  other 
hands. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  25 


CHAPTER  II. 


CHILDHOOD  AND   YOUTH. 

*'He  had  the  happy  heritage  of  those  hard  condi- 
tions— obscurity  and  poverty.  But  passing  by  the 
palace  with  its  cradled  princes,  Fortune  paused 
within  his  humble  home  and  emptied  out  her  horn 
of  plenty  upon  that  royal  head." — Prances  E.  Wil- 
lard  In  life  of  John  B.  Finch. 

In  the  southern  central  portion  of  the  state  are 
those  two  tributaries  of  the  Susquehanna,  the 
Chenango  and  the  Unadilla  and  on  the  hilly  and 
rolling  upland  between  them  lies  the  town  of  Col- 
umbus in  the  northeast  corner  of  Chenango 
County,  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Unadilla  which 
is  about  two  miles  distant  from  the  "Old  Home- 
stead." 

This  is  on  the  west  side  of  a  north  and  south 
road  so  it  fronts  the  east,  with  the  driveway  and 
entrance  on  the  south  and  outbuildings  westward. 

The  house  has  been  somewhat  improved  and  re- 
painted and  the  largest  barn  added  since  those 
days,  otherwise  it  was  much  the  same  as  the  illus- 
tration taken  in  August  1906. 

It  was  a  retired  home  on  a  highway  traveled  so 
little  that  the  grass  grew  along  its  track  with  but 
few  neighbors  in  sight,  none  very  near,  one  and  a 


26  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

half  miles  from  town  and  twelve  miles  from  the 
Friends  meeting  at  Smyrna  where  they  were 
members  and  occasionally  attended. 

It  is  in  such  surroundings  that  w'e  look  for  a 
simple  life  and  originality  of  character,  not  follow- 
ing all  the  fads  and  fashions  of  society,  life  is  fre- 
er and  more  independent  it  may  be  sometimes  less 
progressive. 

In  this  home  were  born  two  sons  and  two  daugh- 
ters and  after  them  on  March  5,  1843,  the  fifth  and 
youngest  child  Samuel  Alexander  first  saw  the 
hght. 

With  four  pair  of  eager  eyes  looking  into  the  face 
and  watching  beside  the  cradle  of  the  newcomer, 
the  oldest  scarely  six,  the  mother  could  have  had 
httle  time  for  any  unnecessary  attentions  to  the 
little  one,  yet  often  times  these  thrive  when  those 
on  whom  is  bestowed  all  the  care  and  comfort  that 
luxury  can  give,  find  less  of  health  and  happiness. 

So  while  the  parents  labored  about  the  farm  and 
fireside  to  feed  their  little  flock,  the  child  grew  in 
statute  and  was  soon  able  to  follow  the  others 
around  the  house  and  yard. 

The  instinct  of  a  mother's  heart  throws  love  at 
its  flood-tide  on  the  smallest,  feeblest  of  her  flock, 
thus  he  had  a  large  measure  of  his  mother's  love, 
and  led  by  her  cultured  mind  he  soon  learned  to 
read  and  thus  enlarge  the  circle  of  his  knowledge. 

His  attention  however  was  not  confined  to  books 
for,  in  the  long  warm  summer  days  he  might  be 
seen  roaming  the  orchard  and  the  meadow  watch- 
ing the  birds  and  bees  and  gathering  wild  flowers, 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  27 

developing  that  intense  love  of  nature  which  never 
foresook  him  in  the  busiest,  most  eventful  periods 
of  his  life. 

His  mother  a  student  of  the  sciences  was  able  to 
lead  him  out  in  botany  and  astromony  and  give  di- 
rection to  his  study  of  those  branches. 

In  books  however  he  acquired  a  taste  for  history 
and  travel  and  so  retentive  was  his  memory  that 
he  soon  outshone  his  brothers  and  sisters  and  be- 
came the  standing  authority  for  the  family,  so 
prominent  did  this  become  that  he  was  frequently 
called  out  by  his  parents  before  visitors  to  render 
a  verdict  on  mooted  questions.  A  degree  of  par- 
ental pride  in  the  attainments  of  children  is  to  be 
expected  and  is  indeed  laudable  as  an  incentive  to 
effort  in  their  behalf;  still  some  may  have  thought 
in  his  case  that  it  was  carried  a  httle  too  far  pro- 
ducing a  sense  of  superiority  unexpected  for  his 
years. 

Of  slender  physique,  an  early  playmate  says  of 
him  that  "he  seldom  took  part  in  rough  sports 
would  stand  back  and  look  on,  or  gather  them 
around  him  to  listen  to  some  story  of  travel  or  lion 
hunters." 

The  Friends  in  those  days  more  exclusive  in  their 
intercourse  with  society  than  to-day  sought  to 
guard  children  from  the  temptations  and  allure- 
ments of  the  world  in  their  youth  by  secluding 
them  from  the  pubhc  schools,  which  were  indeed 
far  from  their  present  standard  of  excellence;  and 
educated  them  in  private  schools  attended  by  mem- 
bers and  held  frequently  at  a  private  house  such 


28  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

as  his  mother  taught  referred  to  in  a  former  chap- 
ter. 

So  his  parents  as  their  family  grew  started  a 
school  in  their  home  held  mainly  in  the  winter  sea- 
son, taught  somewhat  by  the  mother,  at  other 
times  by  a  hired  teacher;  living  as  they  did,  distant 
from  other  Friends  the  school  seldom  had  any 
pupils  from  outside,  to  change  the  even  tenor  of  its 
way. 

This  seclusion  had  its  advantages  and  brought 
its  blessings  but  there  is  much  to  learn  from  con- 
tact with  others  that  will  help  to  fit  us  for  the 
duties  and  responsibilities  that  come  later.  It 
was  here  with  few  books  and  fewer  companions 
that  this  lad  of  active  brain  and  a  growing  thirst 
for  knowledge,  picked  up  the  rudiments  of  an  edu- 
cation which  enabled  him  in  after  years  to  take  a 
high  rank  as  a  scholar  in  the  world  of  literature. 

This  comprised  his  whole  early  schooling  except 
the  winter  of  1857  and  1858  when  he  attended  a 
school  taught  by  Orlando  Blackman  at  Columbus 
village;  and  perhaps  a  term  or  two  at  other  High 
Schools.  But  his  education  did  not  stop  here, 
helping  with  the  work  upon  the  farm,  he  found 
much  time  for  reading  and  home  study. 

While  he  had  much  love  for  sciences  especially 
astromony  and  botany  instilled  by  his  mother's 
teaching  yet  his  favorite  field  was  grammar  and 
history.  With  a  remarkable  gift  of  language,  he 
very  early  learned  to  spell  with  surpassing  ac- 
curacy, and  his  earliest  writings  show  a  command 
of  langnage,  an  ease  and  elegance  of  diction  very 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  29 

rare  for  his  years.  These  gifts  conspired  to  make 
teaching  a  congenial  fieJd  for  his  efforts,  and  for  a 
time  he  looked  forward  to  that  profession  as  his 
calling. 

In  the  winter  of  1862  and  1863  he  began  teaching 
in  a  country  district  school,  he  also  taught  a  short 
term  the  next  summer.  But  he  did  not  make  a 
success  in  government  and  failed  to  complete 
eithnrterm;  how  much  his  peculiarities  of  dress 
and  manner  may  have  tended  toward  the  results  is 
a  matter  of  conjecture,  they  were  homespun  and 
original  in  the  extreme.  The  winter  of  1863  and 
1864  he  taught  a  family  school  at  his  uncles  in 
Smyrna,  N.  Y.  The  next  two  succeeding  winters 
he  did  not  teach  but  spent  the  time  at  work  on  the 
farm  and  reading  and  study. 


30  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  III. 
Religious  Experience. 

"Speak  for  thy  servant  heareth. "     I  Sam. 

As  Paul  was  raised  a  Pharisee  as  according  to 
the  "most  strictest  sect"  the  children  of  Samuel 
and  Waity  Purdie  were  raised  Friends. 

The  parents  positive  by  nature  carried  that  trait 
into  all  their  religious  life  and  teaching. 

Believers  in  orthodox  creed  and  doctrines  and 
the  sacredness  of  the  scriptures,  they  expected 
their  children  to  believe  without  question  as  they 
did;  and  the  youngest  more  perhaps  than  some  of 
the  others,  accepted  their  teaching  as  indisputable 
authority. 

In  heriting  a  very  full  and  active  moral  and  re- 
ligious nature,  any  deviation  from  the  ways  of  his 
parents  in  conduct  or  faith  was  to  turn  from  the 
truth  into  the  paths  of  sin. 

In  those  days  the  adherents  of  religion  and 
science  were  often  marshalled  in  hostile  array 
against  each  other;  many  of  the  details  of  modern 
science  not  then  before  the  common  people,  many 
indeed  not  discovered  have  contributed  along  with 
the  increased  breath  and  liberality  of  religious  lead- 
ers to  acceptance  of  the  truth  of  the  unity  of  science 
and  inspiration.     The  young  student  ever  reaching 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  31 

out  after  truth  is  ready  to  ^rasp  the  first  subject 
that  brings  with  it  the  proof  of  its  authority. 

The  youthful  mind  hke  "the  poor  Indian  sees 
God  in  clouds  and  hears  him  in  the  wind"  so  as 
they  meet  the  facts  of  the  physical  universe  and 
see  before  them  the  footprints  of  the  Creator,  not 
entirely  in  harmony  with  the  teachings  of  Scrip- 
ture, they  have  received  in  their  home  life,  a  season 
of  doubt  quite  often  enters  with  the  development  of 
thought  and  research,  in  the  mind  of  those  just 
stepping  on  the  tereshold  of  monhood. 

So  we  find  him  recording  in  his  journal  years 
afterward  some  of  the  experiences  of  his  early, 
wandering  in  the  ways  of  doubt  and  unbelief. 

His  regrets  and  sorrows,  his  humilation  and  re- 
morse were  evidently  borne  in  silence  and  alone 
without  the  confidence  and  sympathy  of  parents  or 
other  friends. 

In  the  autumn  of  1865  he  began  a  journal  of  his 
life  with  the  purpose  of  a  permanent  preservation 
of  his  experiences  from  which  we  shall  draw  some- 
what for  this  work. 

In  the  early  portions  of  this  journal  he  makes 
frequent  extracts  from  one  commenced  about  six 
years  before  which  has  not  been  preserved.  In 
the  preface  he  says  this  account  of  his  life  is  pre- 
served with  a  wish  that  the  record  of  such  an  ex- 
perience may  be  a  warning  and  consolation  to 
others. 

"A  warning  by  showing  the  truth  of  the  asser- 
tion," there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked,"  as  exempli- 
fied in  tlie  experience  herein  recorded,  and  consol- 


32  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

ation  from  the  fact  that  so  great  a  sinner  as  mj'^self 
was  not  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  his  sins  but  allowed 
a  day  of  repentance." 

"In  some  hours  of  trial  my  sins  would  undoubt- 
edly have  been  greater,  but  for  the  preserving  hand 
of  God,  who  has  at  times  opened  a  way  for  me  to 
escape  sin,  when  danger  was  very  imminent.  To 
Him  be  all  the  praise  for  these  deliverances,  both 
now  and  for  evermore.  Wishing  to  be  as  far  as 
practicable  the  biographer  of  my  own  life,  in  order 
that  praise  to  iuan  as  it  relates  to  me  at  least  may 
be  excluded,  I  now  at  the  age  of  twenty-two 
commence  compiling  my  journal. 

He  begins  his  journal  by  recording  the  place  and 
date  of  his  birth  and  a  few  minor  details  already 
noted;  and  then  takes  up  the  main  subject  of  his 
thought  and  purpose  of  his  journal, — his  religious 
experience  as  follows: 

"  Many  times  in  my  early  childhood  would  that 
servant  of  the  Lord,  Zebu  Ion  Weaver  call  at  my 
father's  house  on  his  way  to  and  from  Quarterly 
meetings,  and  usually  at  the  close  of  breakfast  he 
would  say  a  few  words  of  loving  counsel  to  us.  As 
I  grew  older,  sin  and  wickedness  grew  within  me 
until  I  departed  far  from  the  sheepfold  of  my 
Heavenly  Father." 

"If  there  had  been  no  miracles  recorded  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  it  is  quite  probable  that  I  should 
have  been  strongly  tempted  te  disbelieve  them  on 
account  of  the  absence  of  such  evidence  of  the  di- 
vine power  of  their  great  Author. 

It  was  only  in  the  face  of  incontrovertible  evi- 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  3» 

dence,  that  I  came  to  oelieve  them  to  be  true, 
Oftentimes  have  I  wandered  to  a  distance  from  my 
fathers  house,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  carry- 
ing my  Testament,  and  have  pondered  upon  the 
important  subject  of  the  truth  of  the  Holy  Bible. 
Aside  from  the  immediate  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  printed  books  and  the  like  were  the  chief 
means  useful  in  effecting  my  conversion. 

Among  thfsc  Grimshaw's  Vindication  of  Chris- 
tianity, Dr.  Goodman's  Essay  and  some  of  Rollins 
Ancient  History  occupy  a  prominent  place.  Some 
remarks  in  Dr.  Fitchs'  Six  Lectures  on  consump- 
tion were  also  useful.  Thus  was  I  gradually  in- 
duced to  place  more  confidence  it  the  truth  of  the 
Bible." 

"I  might  here  state  that  I  believe  he  who  created 
and  who  governs  the  universe  is  able  to  do  far 
greater  miracles  than  any  on  record.  I  would 
here  press  upon  parents  the  duty  of  teaching  their 
children  in  earliest  infancy  to  place  their  con- 
fidence and  faith  in  God.  If  they  themselves  be- 
lieve and  always  have  believed  the  Holy  Scriptures 
they  know  not  but  some  doubts  may  arise  at  times 
in  the  minds  of  their  children  concerning  their 
authenticity;  and  they  should  narrowly  watch  and 
be  prepared  in  every  manner  to  strengthen  the 
hands  of  their  children  in  their  battle  with  Satan. 
A  supply  of  books  relating  to  the  proofs  of  the  di- 
vine inspiration  of  the  Bible  which  profane  history 
affords  can  cause  no  harm  and  may  be  the  means 
of  saving  some  immortal  soul  from  an  infidels 
death  and  infidels  reward." 


"34  LIFE  AND   LETTERS 

"I  opened  my  Testament  and  read  'go  thy  way 
and  sin  no  more  lest  a  worse  thing  come  upon 
thee,"  but  how  often  have  I  sinned  since." 

"I  am  at  present  rather  unwell  and  spend  a  part 
of  my  leisure  in  reading  the  Memoirs  of  Joseph 
John  Gurney,  which  I  like  much,  v.iio  can  be  will- 
ing to  gainsay  a  life  like  this,  spent  (as  it  was)  to  a 
•considerable  degree  in  the  cause  of  Christian 
benevolence,  and  the  best  interest  of  humanity. 
Should  I  not  wish  to  inhabit  eternity  with  such  as 
he." 

He  follows  w^ith  frequent  extracts  from  his 
former  journal  in  which  he  mentions  attending 
several  Quarterly  meetings,  also  names  those  who 
had  service  in  the  ministry  and  his  satisfaction 
therein,  and  also  refers  to  two  sermons  by  Cornel- 
ius Bowerman  which  he  heard  in  the  summer  of 
1863,  which  he  thought  were  intended  in  part  at 
least  for  himself. 

"One  commenced  'Satan  hath  desired  to  have 
thee'  and  the  other  was  from  'There  is  a  way  which 
seemeth  to  be  right  the  end  whereof  is  death.'  I 
have  often  reflected  upon  the  latter  sermon,  trying 
to  find  out  its  full  meaning  as  it  relates  to  my  case 
I  am  at  present  of  the  opinion  that  the  sermon  as 
far  as  it  relates  to  me,  was  to  warn  me  against 
leaving  the  Society  of  Friends  and  talung  another 
active  position  in  the  religious  world  and  also  as  to 
going  as  a  missionary  of  the  Society  of  Friends 
without  the  caUing  of  God  to  such  a  work." 

Later  in  the  season  he  heard  a  sermon  where 
the  text  was  "Are  not  Abana  and  Pharpar  rivers 


OP  SAMUEL  R.  PURDIE  35 

of  Damascus  better  than  all  the  waters  of  Israel" 
which  he  thought  was  partially  intended  for  him. 
The  first  two  months  of  1864  he  taught  a  family 
school  at  an  uncles  in  Smyrna  and  made  no  records 
in  his  journal  that  are  preserved.  He  went  back 
to  the  farm  in  the  spring  and  helped  make  maple 
sugar,  and  wrote  that  he  had  for  some  time  feared 
being  called  with  a  Heavenly  calling  to  labor  among 
the  Freed  men. 

In  the  Eighth  month  he  mentions  being  drafted 
into  the  State  Militia  but  without  further  com- 
ment. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  he  refers  to  an 
opportunity  to  stand  valiant  for  the  truth  before 
men  but  faihng  to  do  so  he  suffered  much  remorse 
of  conscience  as  the  result,  and  refers  to  Peter's 
example  of  denial  and  gains  from  it  hope  and 
prophecy  for  himself  it  seems  for  he  wrote  "yet 
Peter  was  after  that  event  an  able  advocate  of  his 
Master's  cause  and  has  no  doubt  entered  upon  a 
glorious  and  happy  eternity." 

New  Years  day  1865  he  records  this  prayer  "O 
Lord,  may  I  live  henceforth  to  thy  glory  and  when 
called  upon  by  thee  in  any  manner  to  labor  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  my  fellowmen 
may  I  be  faithful." 

So  from  time  to  time  he  dropped  expressions 
which  showed  that  the  aspirations  and  purpose  of 
his  life  was  to  lift  his  fellowmen. 

Second  month  21st  he  was  tried  by  Court  Mar- 
tial at  Norwich  and  fined  $5.00  for  not  attending 
the  parade  of  the  State  Militia  to  which  he  was 


M  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

summoned  at  Sherburne  on  the  first  day  of  Twelfth 
month  last. 

He  does  not  inform  us  if  this  fine  was  ever  paid; 
but  we  see  he  had  trials  on  account  of  peace  prin- 
ciples in  his  early  years.  Other  trials  soon  follow- 
ed; on  the  first  of  Third  month  his  brother  James 
died  at  Smyrna,  he  writes  of  attending  the  funeral 
on  the  4th.  On  the  5th  he  says  "To-day  I  am 
twenty-two  years  of  age.  O,  may  the  coming  year 
present  a  full  dedication  of  both  body  and  spirit  to 
the  service  of  God." 

A  year  later  he  speaks  of  the  spirit  of  prophecy 
fortelling  the  future  of  Elizabeth  Fry  and  turning 
to  himself  says  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether 
faithfulness  will  be  sufficient  to  fulfil  the  predic- 
tions in  bis  own  case,  and  describes  an  interview 
nine  months  before  with  Freeman  Andrew  who 
assured  him  that  if  not  already  called  he  would  be 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry  which  came  home  to 
him  like  Nathan's  to  David  "thou  art  the  man." 

He  also  names  Jarvis  M.  Rider  as  one  who  had 
been  impressed  to  speak  in  the  same  way  of  his 
future. 

Tenth  month  1st  he  made  this  record.  "I  have 
felt  more  close  union  with  the  Society  of  Friends 
recently  than  for  some  time  past.  I  can  now 
accept  their  principles  without  omission  or  de- 
duction." 

"The  doctrine  of  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  an  important  doctrine  and  should  not  be  lightly 
cast  aside  or  trnmpled  upon." 

Almost  the  whole  of  his  journal  in  these  early 


OF  SAMUEL  R.  PURDIE  37 

years  when  life  is  usually  preoccupied  with  its 
surroundings,  was  devoted  to  his  religious  exper- 
iences, his  trials  and  disappointments,  his  long- 
ings and  aspirations;  anticipating  as  he  began,  to 
a  call  to  the  Masters  service  as  a  special  worker  in 
his  vineyard;  the  future  with  its  duties  and  possi- 
bilities was  ever  before  him. 

Early  in  1866  he  wrote  to  several  points  in  re- 
gard to  teaching,  especially  among  Friends  in 
North  Carolina,  without  any  immediate  results. 

The  first  of  Sixth  month  he  attended  the  Yearly 
Meeting  at  New  York  and  speaks  of  it  as  an  inter- 
esting occasion,  but  also  records  a  neglected  op- 
portunity and  call  for  vocal  service  in  a  family 
gathering  at  their  boarding  house. 

In  those  days  with  no  C.  E.  societies  and  no 
social  prayer  meetings  in  which  the  young  may  be 
led  out  in  the  expression  of  their  first  convictions 
of  duty  and  religious  experiences,  the  way  of  the 
beginner  in  the  ministry  was  one  of  extreme  diffi- 
culty. To  break  the  stillness  of  one  of  those  often 
silent  meetings  was  to  the  young  at  least  so 
great  and  awe  inspiring  responsibility  to  be 
approached  only  with  reverence  and  fear,  before 
which  trembling  human  nature  frequently  re- 
coiled; and  this  backwoods  boy  sensitive  in  every 
fiber  of  his  being  must  have  realized  it  in  the 
superlative  degree. 


38        LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  IV. 


TEACHING  AND   PREACHING. 

"A  voice  is  ever  at  thy  side 
Speaking  in  tones  of  might 
Like  the  prophetic  voice  that  cried 
To  John  in  Patmos,    'Write.'" 

— Longfellow. 

With  the  conviction  that  his  life  was  to  be  g:iven 
to  the  ministry  came  the  inquiry  for  some  field  of 
labor  among  Friends  where  he  might  devote  his 
time  and  spend  his  energies  for  some  time  to 
come. 

After  some  correspondence  he  arranged  to  go  to 
North  Carolina  as  a  teacher  of  a  Friend's  Monthly 
Meeting  school  about  to  be  established  at  Centre. 

In  his  journals  he  speaks  of  his  doubts  and  fears 
in  regard  to  teaching,  reviews  his  past  experience 
which  he  says  was  not  encouraging.  But  he  re- 
solves to  make  the  attempt  in  this  new  and  dis- 
tant field. 

So  gathering  his  few  belongings  into  a  trunk  and 
bidding  farewell  to  the  loved  ones;  on  the  7th  of 
the  Tenth  month  1866  he  started  for  his  destina- 
tion by  way  of  Albany  taking  a  steamboat  down 
the  Hudson,  then  by  rail  to  Baltimore  where  he 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  39 

stopped  over  night,  saw  some  of  the  Friends  and 
promoters  of  his  work;  among  them  Richard 
Henry  Thomas  who  humorously  remarked  that 
they  would  take  him  for  a  Confederate  officer  as 
he  was  dressed  in  gray.  It  was  probably  his 
Mother's  homespun  woolen  suit. 

He  took  a  steamer  down  tlie  Chesapeake  to 
Norfork,  and  during  his  midnight  ride  he  wrote  to 
his  sister  at  home  a  description  of  his  experience 
and  impressions  of  the  voyage  some  of  which  are 
so  vivid  we  must  quote  a  paragraph.  "We  have 
had  a  powerful  thunder  shower.  The  bay  is  much 
rougher  than  the  Hu.dson.  I  have  just  been  out  on 
deck  admiring  the  beauties  of  steam  navigation. 
The  clouds  still  gently  dropping,  while  the  white 
waves  behind  us,  some  of  the  waves  at  our  side, 
lit  up  by  the  ships  light  chase  each  other  about 
like  glittering  meteors,  and  the  black  cloud  from 
our  smoke  stack,  and  the  western  shore  light- 
house in  the  verge  of  the  horizon,  together  with 
the  undulating  motion  is  grand  beyond  descrip- 
tion. 

It  being  stormy  the  Bay  was  rough  and  the 
boat  rocked  and  pitched  so  that  many  were  sea- 
sick; while  he  escaped  and  says  he  rather  enjoyed 
the  motion  and  writes  of  the  occasion  as  one  of 
pleasure. 

Not  accustomed  to  travel  these  opportunities  of 
observation  and  experience  were  a  rare  privilege 
which  he  enjoyed  to  the  full. 

Of  his  stop  in  Albany  he  wrote  and  mentioned 
his  visit  to  the  museum  of  Natural  History  saying 


40  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

"I  was  highly  pleased,  yes  more  than  pleased  with 
what  I  saw  there." 

Landing  at  Norfork  he  took  the  train  for  Welton 
and  Greensboro,  reaching  High  Point  late  on  the 
11th,  from  there  by  team  stopping  at  Bush  Hill  he 
arrived  at  Centre,  his  destination,  on  the  13th. 
He  wrote  to  his  sister,  "General  Hardis  corps  of 
Johnsons'  army  surrendered  at  Bush  Hill,  was 
shown  the  ground  on  which  they  camped"  and  also 
adds,  "During  the  Revolution  the  army  of  Corn- 
wallis  advanced  past  Centre  meeting  house  to  the 
battle  of  Guilford  Court  House  and  then  retreated 
past  it.  They  burried  many  soldiers  in  the 
Friends  burying  ground," 

He  makes  some  amusing  comments  on  the  old 
meeting  house,  its  ancient  appearance  he  thinks, 
would  make  it  an  object  worthy  of  exhibit  in  the 
north.  It  was  to  be  his  school  house  for  tl  e  pres- 
ent and  he  waited  a  week  for  them  to  seat  it  and 
arrange  the  heating,  so  it  could  be  used  until  a 
school  house  was  built.  This  gave  him  a  little 
time  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  people  and 
the  country. 

To  a  young  man  from  a  country  home  in  the 
north  this  south  land  so  different  in  many  res- 
pects and  with  a  people  of  two  races  each  with 
ways  new  to  him  the  situation  was  a  novel  one. 

In  his  letters  to  his  friends  at  home  he  described 
in  those  days  many  of  the  incidents  of  personal 
experience,  the  persons  and  things  which  he  saw 
with  a  minuteness  of  detail,  which  showed  the 
close  observer. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PUKDIE  41 

He  lost  few  opportunities  of  seeing  and  learning 
and  as  he  mingled  with  the  people  he  soon  felt 
quite  at  home  there. 

The  house  being  ready  on  the  22nd  of  the  Tenth 
month  he  opened  the  school  with  about  twenty 
pupils  increasing  to  forty  before  Christmas. 

He  had  a  boarding  place  with  an  old  lady  living 
near  who  he  says  was  a  mother  to  him  in  caring 
for  his  physical  needs.  His  students  ranged  from 
A,  B,  C,  to  latin  grammar,  so  as  the  number  in- 
creased his  time  was  very  fully  occupied  during 
school  hours;  and  some  of  the  time  between  in 
reviewing  studies  in  advance  of  his  higher 
classes. 

Saturdays  he  found  time  to  go  out  and  feast  on 
the  wild  persimmons  which  abounded  in  the  woods, 
and  which  he  came  to  enjoy  very  much,  he  said 
when  ripe  they  were  fully  equal  to  a  good 
muskmellon. 

In  his  letters  home  he  describes  with  much 
minuteness  the  peculiarities  of  the  people  and 
productions  of  that  land,  so  new  and  strange  in 
many  ways  to  him. 

Born  and  reared  among  northern  abolitionists 
he  had  a  lively  interest  in  the  f  reedman  and  soon 
found  his  place  as  a  teacher  in  the  Bible  school 
among  the  colored  people  at  Bush  Hill,  there 
seemed  to  be  little  affinity  between  them  and  the 
resident  whites,  but  a  yankee  could  easily  win 
their  attention  and  confidence. 

The  first  funeral  it  was  his  privilege  to  attend 
and  take  part  in  was  that  of  a  negro  child  hurried 


42  LIFE  AND  LETTEBS 

in  the  church  yard  there.  He  and  his  pupils  went 
to  the  grave  and  as  there  was  no  minister  he  felt 
called  to  give  a  few  words  of  exhortation  and  en- 
couragement and  offer  prayer. 

In  his  intimacy  with  the  colored  people  he  met 
with  incidents  humorous  as  well  as  pathetic,  in 
contrast  to  the  above  he  related  in  one  of  his  letters 
the  following:  One  day  an  illiterate  young  wom- 
an came  to  him  with  a  request  to  write  for  her  a 
letter  to  her  sweetheart,  who  was  living  at  a  dis- 
tance. He  kindly  accepted  the  delicate  task  which 
must  have  been  well  accomplished,  resulting  as  it 
proved  in  a  permanent  union. 

Looking  forward  as  he  did  to  the  fulfillment  of 
the  prophecies  of  the  Lord's  servants  in  the  home- 
land in  regard  to  his  future;  he  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  spiritual  progress  not  only  of  his 
pupils  but  others  of  the  community  and  congrega- 
tion with  whom  he  met  from  week  to  week. 

So  we  are  not  surprised  that  he  soon  found 
opportunity  for  its  expression  in  public,  sometimes 
with  crudeness  and  even  amusing  originality  but 
always  with  earnestness  and  sincerity. 

He  wrote  to  his  parents  the  details  of  his  first 
efforts,  feeling  that  they  were  in  some  measure  an 
answer  to  their  prayers. 

In  November  he  closed  his  school  for  a  few  days 
to  attend  North  Carolina  Yearly  Meeting  where  he 
met  for  the  first  time  many  of  the  Friends  in  that 
section  as  well  as  several  visitors  of  note,  among 
them  Thomas  and  Allen  Jay,  of  Indiana,  and  Eli 
and  Sybil  Jones,    of  Maine;    all  of  whom  visited 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  43 

Centre  a  little  later  and  broke  in  on  his  school 
hours  by  holding  a  meeting  in  an  afternoon  in  the 
school  room,  and  also  one  for  freedmen  in  the 
evening  at  which  Eli  Jones  gave  them  adoscription 
of  his  visit  to  Africa  and  especially  Liberia,  setting 
before  them  the  capabilities  of  their  race  and  giv- 
ing them  much  encouragement,  to  all  of  which 
they  gave  the  closest  attention. 

Samuel  frequently  wrote  of  Joseph  Moore  who 
under  appointment  from  Baltimore  was  superin- 
tendent of  Friends  schools  there  and  so  was  the 
one  who  hired  him;  his  wages  being  paid  by  Balti- 
more Friends,  while  his  board,  etc.,  was  by  local 
Friends. 

The  winter  was  a  severe  one  for  that  latitude 
and  the  old  house  so  open  and  cold  that  they  suf- 
fered much,  he  wrote  of  the  scholars  all  gathering 
around  the  two  stoves  to  keep  warm;  and  yet  on 
the  whole  he  thought  it  far  preferable  to  our  north- 
ern winters. 

The  school  was  large,  often  as  many  as  forty,  so 
that  with  some  assistance  from  older  pupils,  he 
still  found  himself  very  busy,  but  he  bore  it  well 
and  speaks  of  improvement  in  his  health  since 
leaving  the  northern  home.  He  seems  to  have  so 
thoroughly  interested  his  scholars  in  their  work 
that  discipline  was  at  least  easy;  he  does  not  speak 
of  any  trouble  during  the  term;  while  previously 
he  had  been  much  discouraged  in  his  government. 

At  New  Years  he  moralizes  on  the  changes  which 
a  year  has  brought  to  him  and  draws  a  vivid  con- 
trast between  his  surroundings  then  and    now. 


44  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

Toward  spring  he  frequently  wrote  of  his  desire 
to  once  more  see  his  northern  home  if  he  could  feel 
at  liberty  to  leave  the  work  there,  which  seemed 
quite  doubtful.  He  wrote  frequently  to  his  moth- 
er of  his  religious  service  in  the  meetings  both  in 
prayer  and  ministry.  Improving  in  the  exercise 
of  his  gift  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  hearers,  he  was 
soon  asked  by  the  elders  at  Centre  to  sit  with  them 
in  the  gallery. 

On  the  whole  his  school  was  quite  successful  and 
ckjsed  on  May  22d,  1867,  with  a  public  examination 
on  the  24th. 

A  Friends  Normal  School  at  Westminister,  some 
20  miles  away,  was  opened  June  18th,  and  he  de- 
cided to  attend  it;  holding  about  two  months  with 
that  able  teacher  Joseph  Moore  at  the  head,  it 
proved  an  interesting  and  profitable  time  of  study 
as  well  as  extended  acquaintance  with  the  young 
people  at  that  section.  There  were  90  students, 
they  had  lectures  from  outside  by  able  Profes- 
sors. 

In  a  letter  to  his  mother  July  23  he  spoke  of  the 
qualifications  of  Joseph  Moore  as  a  teacher,  es- 
pecially of  natural  science,  having  attended  some 
of  the  highest  colleges  and  associated  with  such 
men  as  Prof.  Gray  the  botanist,  Louis  Aggasiz  the 
comparative  anatomist,  Dr.  Cutler  the  physiolo- 
gist, had  given  him  a  vast  fund  of  information  on 
all  topics  in  the  domain  of  nature.  He  used  very 
few  big  words  particularly  when  preaching.  At 
one  time  after  he  had  spoken  in  a  meeting  he  over- 
heard an  illiterate  man  speak  to  another  and  say, 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  45 

"I  don't  believe  that  man  has  much  larnin',  for  1 
can  understand  him." 

Before  leaving  the  Normal  he  made  arrange- 
ments to  teach  another  year  for  the  Baltimore 
Association,  this  time  at  Back  Creek  in  Randolph 
county  about  twenty  miles  from  Centre.  This 
t^jok  him  again  among  strangers  which  made  him 
think  of  the  old  folks  at  home;  yet  boarding  around 
he  soon  became  acquainted  with  a  large  circle  of 
interesting  young  people,  many  of  them  his  pupils 
with  whom  the  time  passed  merrily  and  his  service 
in  the  ministry  increasing  he  felt  strongly  drawn 
in  the  bonds  of  Christian  fellowship.  His  school 
with  an  average  of  about  thirty  went  oif  so  well 
through  the  winter  that  he  fell  quite  in  love  with  a 
teacher's  life  and  thought  quite  seriously  of  mak- 
ing it  his  life  work  instead  of  farming  which  he 
had  frequently  written  to  his  folks  of  as  the  best 
he  probably  could  do.  There  was  growing  up  in 
his  heart  the  desire,  which  comes  to  every  true 
and  well  developed  man  and  woman  to  have  a  home 
of  his  own  an  abiding  place.  He  writes  of  board- 
ing at  John  Hoovers  where  they  had  nine  children, 
most  of  them  his  pupils,  among  them  some  inter- 
esting daughters,  whose  society  he  enjoyed. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  his  love  for  Astrono- 
my fostered  by  his  mother  with  whom  he  frequent- 
ly enchanged  notes  on  current  observations  and 
under  date  second  month  1868  he  wrote,  "by  look- 
ing in  the  almanacs  I  found  that  Mercury  was 
coming  to  its  greatest  elongation  east  under  very 
favorable  circumstances  for  its  recognition,  owing 


46  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

to  a  conjunction  with  Jupiter  while  in  sight.  I  de- 
termined to  watch,  and  last  night  to  my  great  joy 
three  planet  bodies  were  visible  in  the  west,  the 
lower  one  was  the  long  wished  for  sight  of  my  life." 

His  letters  home  were  full  and  copious  with  the 
details  of  his  daily  life  and  experience  and  yet  he 
says  there  are  very  many  interesting  and  amusing 
incidents  transpiring  from  day  to  day  which  he 
has  not  time  to  relate. 

He  took  an  active  interest  in  Sunday  School  work 
and  attended  the  conventions  being  held  through- 
out that  section,  frequently  giving  addresses  and 
lectures  on  Bible  subjects. 

His  love  for  the  old  folks  at  home  found  expres- 
sion in  every  epistle  to  the  north  and  with  much 
canvassing  as  to  the  probability  of  his  meeting 
them  in  the  near  future. 

Toward  spring  he  began  to  think  of  the  long 
summer  vacation  and  the  advisability  of  adopting 
farming  as  an  avocation.  There  being  several 
farms  in  the  neighborhood  for  sale  at  very  low 
prices,  he  wrote  to  his  folks  at  home  urging  them 
to  sell  the  old  home,  buy  one  of  those  farms  and 
locate  in  the  sunny  south,  whose  rare  beauties  he 
described  in  glowing  terms. 

On  third  month  27th,  1868,  he  wrote  his  mother, 
"you  can  hardly  form  any  idea  of  the  beauty  of 
Carolina  in  its  scarlet  and  crimson  dress  of  peach 
blossoms — Lovely  Carolina:  how  can  I  leave  thy 
sweet  festive  bowers  of  Edenic  lovehness.  Hovr 
can  I  leave  thy  glorious  mission  fields,  thy  many 
wants,  thy  many  needs." 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  47 

But  as  the  winter  wore  away  and  his  acquaint- 
ances increased  he  became  more  in  love  with  the 
people  and  the  country;  and  he  wrote  to  his  rela- 
tives as  follows:  "I  have  found  in  the  family  of  my 
friend  Jaboz  Hodgin  almost  a  brotherly  tie,  and  a 
home  when  I  wish,  and  no  doubt  if  sick  there 
should  find  tlie  same  care  of  an  own  child  or  broth- 
er. What  more  do  I  want,  what  more  do  I  need  or 
can  I  ask  for.  A  great  open  field  lies  before  me 
and  I  am  in  one  of  the  loveliest  climes  on  earth. 
The  loveHest  and  most  responsible  of  all  worldly 
occupations,  the  society  of  the  good,  the  educated, 
the  lovely  associations  of  teacher  and  pupil,  with 
loving  children  and  the  favor  of  God." 

Thus  the  pendulum  of  his  life  was  swinging  be- 
tween here  and  there,  between  north  and  south, 
between  duty  and  inclination,  under  the  impress 
of  his  varied  experiences. 

Perrin  Reynolds,  an  intimate  friend  both  socially 
and  religiously,  in  those  days,  thus  writes  after 
forty  years  separation  his  impressions  of  the 
man: 

"Samuel  A.  Purdiecameto  my  father's  house  at 
Centre,  North  Carolina,  in  1866  to  teach  the  school 
at  the  place  under  the  care  of  the  Baltimore  Asso- 
ciation of  Friends.  He  was  a  young  man  whose 
habits  and  manners  of  life  were  quite  different  and 
even  odd  in  many  respects  compared  with  the  lives 
of  most  young  men  of  his  a.'^e  with  whom  I  was  ac- 
quainted. He  was  of  a  lively  disposition,  cheerful 
and  full  of  fun,  but  never  engaged  in  conversation 
or  encouraging  it  in  others  that  bordered  on  the 


48  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

sinful  and  unclean  or  impure,  he  seemed  to  be 
severed  far  from  evil  even  in  the  thought. 

"S.  A.  Purdie  began  his  ministry  I  think  soon 
after  going  to  Centre.  Speaking  of  his  ministry 
afterwards  he  said  to  me,  'I  guess  thee  heard  me 
the  first  time  I  spoke  in  meeting.'  I  remember 
the  scripture  he  repeated,  Luke  20,  17-18v;  after 
this  he  frequently  spoke  in  our  meetings  at  home 
and  visited  a  few  other  meetings  nearby.  After 
one  year  with  us  he  went  into  the  adjoining  county 
south  of  us  where  he  taught  two  or  three  years 
and  formed  an  attachment  for  Gulia  M.  Hoover  and 
married  her.  She  proved  to  be  a  loving  devoted 
wife,  honoring  her  husband  as  all  Christian  wives 
should  and  ever  in  her  untiring  efforts  seeking  to 
be  a  true  helpmate  in  all  the  interest  of  his  life. 
They  seemed  beautifully  maied  and  when  he  was 
called  hom  from  the  field  of  service  in  thf  earth, 
she  took  up  her  pen  and  vi'rote  an  obituary  notice 
exceeding  in  simplicity,  beauty  and  sweetness,  any 
like  notice  I  have  ever  read. 

"  While  boarding  at  my  father's  we  were  quite  in- 
timate friends  and  talked  often  of  the  work  which 
we  both  seemed  much  interested  in,  and  I  suggest- 
ed to  him  the  propriety  of  opening  school  with 
scripture  reaaing  and  an  opportunity  for  vocal 
prayer,  he  readdy  assented  and  often  engaged  in 
prayer  on  behalf  of  his  scholars.  He  told  me  soon 
after  coming  south  he  thought  his  work  there 
would  only  be  temporary,  he  believed  his  work  lay 
in  Mexicf),  to  which  work  he  was  no  doubt  called 
and  well  ada])ted. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  40 

Samuel  A.  Purdie  had  an  excellent  memory.  I 
think  Joseph  Moore  of  Earlham  College  said  once, 
*he  had  the  best  memory  of  any  man  he  had  ever 
met* 

"He  seemed  to  be  void  of  any  thought  of  his  repu- 
tation or  care  what  the  thoughts  of  others  were 
about  him.  No  thought  of  self  exaltation,  no  de- 
sire to  be  chief  among  men,  no  seeking  the  approval 
of  men,  no  bossism  about  him.  The  one  thought 
which  seemed  to  be  always  uppermost  in  his  mind 
was  to  minister  in  anyway,  teaching,  preaching,  or 
like  Paul  of  old  laboring  with  his  own  hands,  he 
was  willing  to  be  servant  of  all;  by  the  aid  of  the 
printing  press  he  was  able  to  send  the  gospel  to 
many  he  never  had  the  privilege  of  seeing,  I  be- 
lieve he  was  a  man  truly  called  of  God  and  chosen 
for  the  great  and  noble  work  to  which  he  gave  his 
life  and  in  which  he  was  honored  of  the  Lord.*  No 
Rev,  prefixed  to  his  name  or  D.  D,  affixed,  but  as 
one  of  the  friends  of  Jesus  he  went  about  the  Mas- 
ter's business  cheerfully,  lovingly,  yea  joyfully, 
counting  all  things  but  loss  that  he  might  win 
Christ  and  finish  his  life  work  with  joy, 

"I  have  never  met  another  man  like  him,  he  was 
so  caught  up  with  the  Lord  and  his  life  hid  with 
God  in  Ch"ist  Jesus,  actuated  by  a  :^pirit  different 
from  most  of  us,  with  our  selfishness,  pride,  self- 
esteem;  which  has  shamefully  hurt  the  ministry 
of  many  a  man  and  not  a  few  women.  He  moved 
right  along  through  this  life  where  trials,  tribula- 
tions, sorrows  and  disappointments  abound,  with- 
out seemingly  to  ever  be  moved  or  swayed  by  them. 


50  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

He  seemed  able  to  practice  the  words  of  the  Hymn, 

"So  on  I  go  not  knowing 
1  would  not  if  I  might 
I'd  rather  walk  by  faith  with  God 
Than  go  alone  by  sight." 

I  should  like  to  mention  one  little  circumstance 
in  this  life  to  show  that  he  was  as  ready  to  be  ser- 
vant of  all  as  to  pi'each  at  people  from  tlie  pulpit. 
While  he  was  at  Centre,  N.  C,  in  the  eleventh  month 
■occurred  the  Friends  Quarterly  Meeting  at  that 
place,  on  seventh  day  evening  a  goodly  number  of 
the  visiting  ministers  and  others  had  gone  on  the 
•east  side  of  a  creek  that  was  nearby  the  meeting 
house,  that  night  it  rained  in  torrents  and  the  next 
morning  w^ien  the  Friends  came  to  the  creek  there 
being  no  bridge  could  not  cross;  there  was  a  foot 
way  but  one  end  of  that  was  floating  but  held  by  a 
tree  so  it  could  not  go  down  stream,  but  the  water 
was  about  three  feet  deep  on  the  west  side  for 
some  three  rods,  so  Friends  were  very  much  dis- 
•couraged  about  getting  to  Quarterly  Meeting. 
Samuel  came  down  among  the  company  and  shout- 
ed out,  'Oh  ye  of  little  faith  why  stand  ye  here;' 
he  took  off  his  shoes  and  socks,  rolled  up  his  trous- 
ers and  waded  into  the  end  of  the  foot  way  and  in- 
vited all  who  would  cross  the  foot  way  to  come 
on  and  he  took  them  one  by  one  on  his  back  and 
carried  them  to  land  safely;  some  of  the  men 
weighed  as  much  as  200  pounds;  the  ladies  did  not 
attempt  to  cross.  I  think  the  service  was  truly 
one  of  joy  to  him." 

His  school  proved  a  pleasant  one  to  the  end  of 


OF  SAMUEL  R.  PURDIE  51 

May  and  after  doiiif?  some  visiting  in  families  and 
meetings  he  again  attended  the  Normal  which  held 
for  six  weeks  in  the  summer  and  proved  a  session 
of  much  interest. 

He  talked  of  teaching  again  at  Back  Creek,  but 
it  was  finally  given  to  a  former  teacher  and  he  se- 
cured a  position  as  teacher  under  the  Freed  man's 
Bureau  near,  at  Belvidere;  interested  as  he  was  in 
this  down  trodden  race  he  willingly  accepted  the 
situation,  glad  to  do  something  to  help  to  lift  them 
up  out  of  the  pit  of  ignorance  and  degradation  in 
which  slavery  had  left  them;  a  truly  needy  field 
for  human  effort. 

During  his  summer  vacation  he  became  a  con- 
tributor to  the  Herald  of  Peace  published  at  Chi- 
cago, and  furnished  it  a  series  of  articles  on  "Quak- 
erism in  Dixie,"  for  which  he  received  a  satisfac- 
tory remuneration.  In  getting  the  facts  and  in- 
formation for  these  articles  he  traveled  many  miles 
on  foot  visiting  the  different  meetings  and  many 
families  throughout  the  state. 

He  was  kept  very  busy  up  to  the  time  of  opening 
his  school  in  November,  and  then  he  was  still  hard- 
er worked  as  its  numbers  soon  rose  to  about  forty, 
in  a  room  16x24,  but  they  came  to  learn  f  ven  amid 
difficulties  and  required  little  effort  to  keep  them 
in  order. 


5S  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  V. 


MARRIAGE. 


"Man's  sweetest  heritage  below 
From  which  life's  richest  fruitage  flows 

Two  warm  hearts  melted  into  one 
Two  livas  abreast,  the  race  is  won." 

Few  young  men  in  society  reach  twenty-five 
without  some  aspirations  and  air  castles  in  regard 
to  a  future  home  and  our  subject  was  no  exception 
to  the  general  rule. 

At  Back  Creek  he  had  in  his  school  a  good  rep- 
resentation from  the  families  of  the  brothers  John 
and  Alfred  Hoover,  the  former  of  whom  had  nine 
children  and  the  latter  eight,  in  these  homes  he 
passed  many  pleasant  hours,  at  John's  there  were 
three  grown  daughters  who  attended  the  school, 
one  of  these  proved  very  attractive  to  the  teacher 
and  during  his  vacation  he  made  frequent  stops 
with  them,  helping  at  times  with  the  farm  work, 
as  some  remuneration  for  his  board;  so  in  his  let- 
ters home  frequent  mention  is  made  of  the  pleas- 
ant incidents  and  associations  surrounding  him 
there. 

Their  friendship  soon  ripened  into  a  stronger 
tie;  and  before  his  winter  school  term  began  the 
plans  were  peing  formed  for  his  wedding  at  the 
close  of  the  term  to  Gulielma  Maria  third  child, 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  S« 

but  second  daughter  of  John  Hoover;  a  man  highly 
respected  in  the  community  for  his  business  abil- 
ity and  integrity  his  upright  life  and  peaceable 
disposition;  he  and  his  brother  Alfred  on  adjoining 
plantations  had  raised  up  their  large  families  with- 
out ever  a  jar  or  an  unpleasant  word  between  them; 
a  fact  of  especial  interest  to  this  peace  loving 
preacher. 

He  seems  to  have  sought  very  earnestly  for  Di- 
vine guidance  in  this  important  step  and  to  have 
weighed  the  matter  with  much  calmness  and  good 
judgment,  realizing  how  great  might  be  its  bearing 
on  his  future. 

Closing  his  school  with  a  public  examination 
which  was  very  largely  attended  by  the  colored 
people  and  proved  a  very  interesting  occasion  on 
13th.  of  February  1869. 

On  the  15th.  was  their  wedding  at  the  home  of 
the  bride  conducted  after  the  order  of  Friends  at 
which  his  young  friend  Frank  A.  Blair  was  beau- 
tifully led  in  prayer  and  after  a  tour  to  Center  and 
vicinity  for  a  few  days  they  returned  to  her  home 
and  stayed  for  a  few  weeks. 

In  April  they  started  for    his  home  in  the  north 
stopping  on  the  way  to  attend  Philadelphia  Yearly 
Meeting  and  met  a  warm  welcome  on  their  arrival 
at  the  old  home  of  his  boyhood  in  Columbus. 

Here  among  the  loved  friends    and  pleasant  sur 
rounding  endeare  i  to  him  by    so  many    cherished 
memories  they  tarried    for  more  than  a  year;  help- 
ing his  father  on  the  farm  and  doing  such  work 
as  came  to  hand. 


64  LIFE  AND   LETTERS 

In  the  winter  in  company  with  his  old  time  friend 
Jarvis  M.  Rider  he  made  a  rehgious  visit  to  the 
meetings  and  families  of  Butternuts  Quarterly 
Meeting  of  which  he  was  formerly  a  member;  much 
to  his  comfort  and  satisfaction. 

In  August  they  started  again  for  the  beautiful 
southland  feeling  that|life  would  be  not  only  pleas- 
anter  but  more  useful  among  the  hungry,  needy 
souls  thirsting  for  the  water  of  Life,  whom  he  had 
left  there,  to  welcome  his  return  he  would  go  and 
seek  a  home  among  them  and  await  the  leading  of 
the  future. 

After  a  short  time  spent  in  visiting  he  hired  a 
plantation  near  Back  Creek  meeting  house  and 
went  earnestly  at  farm  work;  at  the  same  time  en. 
gaging  to  teach  the  f  reedmen  at  Belvidere  for  three 
months  in  the  winter.  The  school  proved  very 
successful,  its  numbers  swelling  to  an  attendance 
of  fifty-seven  with  about  eighty  on  the  roll.  It  was 
during  this  term  of  school  or  a  preceedingone  that 
the  incident  occured  that  is  narrated  in  a  recent 
letter  to  the  author  from  Allen  Jay,  of  Richmond, 
Indiana,  from  which  we  quote. 

"When  I  went  to  North  Carohna  in  1867  as  Su- 
perintendent of  the  Baltimore  Association  work, 
Samuel  A.  Purdie  was  already  there  as  a  teacher. 
One  circumstance  in  his  life  will  explain  in  what 
direction  his  religious  thoughts  were  directed. 
One  day  as  I  was  on  my  way  around  visiting  the 
schools  I  drove  up  to  Back  Creek  school  house  and 
was  somewhat  surprised  to  find  that  the  scholars 
h&d  not  been  called  in  from  their  noon  hour  play  as 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  55 

they  should  have  been,  upon  inquiry  I  was  told  by 
the  children  that  their  teacher  was  down  in  the 
woods  sitting  on  a  log  by  the  side  of  an  old  man 
and  when  I  spoke  to  him  in  regard  to  failing  to  call 
the  scholars  to  their  study  he  excused  himself  on 
the  grounds  that  he  was  so  interested  in  his  stud- 
ies and  had  forgotten  the  time  of  day.  He  had 
found  an  old  Spaniard  who  could  speak  and  write 
the  Spanish  language  well  and  he  was  availing 
himself  of  the  opportunity  to  prepare  himself  so 
that  he  might  use  it  in  the  future,  saying  that  he 
beheved  the  time  would  come  when  the  Master 
would  open  the  way  for  him  to  make  use  of  it  so 
that  in  the  early  part  of  the  year  1871  I  received  a 
letter  from  Charles  F.  Coffin  of  Indiana  Yearly 
Meeting  asking  me  if  I  could  recommend  Samuel 
A.  Purdie  to  go  to  Mexico  as  a  missionary;  I  re- 
membered his  impression  the  time  would  come 
when  he  would  be  called  to  that  work  and  at  once 
replied  that  I  believed  he  would  succeed  and  a 
short  time  after  that  he  and  his  wife  came  to  our 
house  and  stopped  with  us  over  night  and  I  re- 
member the  earnest  prayers  that  were  offered 
during  our  family  worship  that  he  would  be  led 
and  guided  by  the  Spirit.  Next  morning  I  took 
him  to  the  train  and  saw  him  leave  for  what  was  to 
be  his  future  field  of  great  usefulness  where  his 
life  work  became  an  important  factor  in  the  For- 
eiern  Missionary  work  of  our  church." 

"With  a  large  school  he  could  do  little  outside, 
but  having  got  the  farm  well  in  hand  in  the  autumn, 
and  with  some  hired  help  in  the  winter,  he  was  able 


56  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

to  start  some  of  his  crops  in  good  season  and  also 
a  j?ood  supply  of  garden  vegetables.  Vegetation 
thrived  for  a  time,  he  wrote  of  the  height  of  some 
of  his  corn  in  the  early  summer;  but  later  it  be- 
came dry  and  corn  on  upland  was  almost  a  total 
failure,  in  the  vicinity. 

When  hot  weather  came  on  he  was  afflicted  with 
erysipelas.  That  and  other  ailments  kept  him 
from  work  for  several  weeks  in  the  summer  so 
that  his  farm  work  was  somewhat  in  arrears  and 
he  became  convinced  that  he  was  hardly  fitted  for 
heavy  outdoor  work  in  the  heat  of  summer,  the 
skin  eruption  seeming  to  be  a  constitutional  ten- 
dency, the  physicians  told  him  he  had  best  aband- 
on farm  work  in  the  summer.  This  may  have 
made  him  more  willing  to  follow  promptly  the  lead- 
ings which  through  all  the  months  had  been  draw- 
ing him  toward  other  fields;  still  it  was  probably 
but  a  slight  factor  in  the  problem  of  his  future. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  It 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MISSION    FIELDS. 


"Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and   preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature."     Bible. 

About  the  first  of  August  he  visited  in  gospel 
ministry  the  meetings  of  Deep  Creek  Quarterly 
meeting  covering  several  counties  to  the  northwest 
a  trip  of  300  miles  with  William   C.  Winslow  as  a 
companion,  which  they  accompUshed  much  to  his 
satisfaction  and  peace  of  mind.     In  writmg  to  his 
parents  he  also  says  "whilst  feeling  my  weakness 
and  unworthiness,  the  manner  in  which  I  felt  call- 
ed to  labor  for  others  has  been  a  cause  of  surprise. 
I  have  felt  since  my  return  to  North  Carolina  (one 
year  ago)  drawn  to  extensive  fields  of  labor  and 
what  is  reserved  for   me  in  the  future  seems  at 
times  to  almost  overwhelm  me  with  a  sense  of  its 
magnitude.     A  concern  which  has  rested  upon  my 
mind  at  times  for  nearly  two  years,  but  all  the 
time  for  some  ten  months  past  seems  soon  to  call 
for  action:  the  subject  has  been  before  the  Friends 
Foreign  Missionary  Association  for  some  months 
and  they  have  invited  me  to  attend  Indiana  Yearly 
Meeting  at  their  expense  to  have  conference  with 
them  upon  the  subject."  .  t5-  v. 

Later  he  writes  of  his  trip  there  by  jvay  of  Rich- 


58  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

mond,  Va.,  where  he  read  for  half  a  day  in  the 
State  hbrary,  his  stop  at  Washington  on  the  Sab- 
bath where  he  attended  the  small  Friends  Meeting, 
on  to  Richmond,  Ind  ,  by  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
R.  R.,  his  experiences  there  and  particularly  of  the 
public  meeting  of  the  Association  on  the  evening 
of  10  month  2nd,  where  John  D.  Miles,  of  the  Kic- 
kapoo  Mission,  who  had  just  returned  from  Mexi- 
co was  present  and  said  that  not  knowing  of  Sam- 
uel's prospect  until  in  that  meeting,  he  had  come  to 
ask  them  to  send  missionaries  to  Northern  Mexico 
and  as  the  arrangements  had  just  been  completed 
for  him  to  go  there  he  was  strongly  impressed 
with  the  coincidence;  he  writes  also  that  after  he 
had  been  studying  Spanish  six  months  a  Spaniard 
came  within  two  miles  of  him  to  live  and  had  as- 
sisted him  in  study  nearly  five  months  which  he 
did  gladly  free  of  charge. 

This  coincidence  strengthened  him  in  his  pur- 
pose and  with  the  more  striking  one  narrated 
above  he  says  "is  overpowering  and  shows  that  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  is  in  the  work." 

Arriving  home  he  began  preparations  for  their 
departure  and  at  3  a.  m.  of  Nov.  13th-,  they  left 
ffigh  Point,  N.  C,  for  New  Orleans  by  way  of  At- 
lanta and  Mobile  at  the  latter  place  taking  steamer 
for  Brownsville,  Texas,  opposite  Matamoros,  and 
we  find  them  at  the  border  of  the  field  in  good 
health  ready  to  take  up  the  work  before  them  with 
his  accustomed  energy  and  enthusiasm,  up  to  this 
time  he  had  expected  to  go  directly  to  Victoria  as 
his  destination  and  headquarters  for  his  work. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.   PURDIE  59 

Arriving  at  Brownsville,  Tex.,  on  the  24th,  he 
stopped  there  over  the  Sabbath  having  a  meeting 
appointed  and  thus  beginning  work  in  the  south. 
He  found  that  international  mail  facilities  were  not 
extended  to  Mexico,  so  by  locating  at  Matamoros 
he  could  use  Brownsville  in  the  United  States  as 
his  mail  station,  a  great  advantage  in  publishing 
books  and  papers.  He  therefore  decided  to  do  so; 
and  opened  the  mission  at  rooms  64  and  66  Calle 
de  Matamoros  on  Nov.  28th,  1871  and  began  work 
at  once  by  the  distribution  of  tracts  furnished  by 
the  American  Tract  Society  and  Bibles  and  Testa- 
ments by  the  American  Bible  Society. 

He  wrote  in  the  introduction  to  memoirs  of  Angei 
ita  Aquilar  de  Mascorroby  S.  A.  Purdie,  1885.  "My 
attention  was  called  to  this  field  because  having 
become  interested  in  the  spread  of  peace  princi- 
ples for  which  I  had  suffered  somewhat  during  the 
war  which  desolated  my  native  land  I  longed  to  do 
something  to  stay  the  tide  of  blood  which  was  be- 
ing shed  in  intestine  strife  in  these  countries  and 
to  give  them  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  purity  in  place 
of  their  superstitious  Romanism  and  the  degrad- 
ing influence  of  their  priesthood." 

"My  aim  was  a  Publishing  House  and  the  title 
of  our  paper  'El  Ramo  de  Olivo'  was  written  on  a 
fly  leaf  of  my  Latin  Lexicon  long  ere  I  offered  my 
services  to  the  F.  P.  M.  A. 

"Detained  in  Matamoros  by  the  Revolution  which 
terminated  with  the  death  of  Benito  Juarez,  a  con- 
gregation had  gathered  around  us  giving  promise 
of  great  local  good  and  it  did  not  seem  best  to  leave 


60  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

this  gathering  for  a  new  field  and  thus  for  oar 
book  work  this  change  proved  very  beneficial,  as 
it  placed  us  in  the  free  trade  belt  where  we  could 
import  paper  free  of  duty,  thus  reducing  the  cost 
of  materials  to  one-half  what  it  would  have  been  at 
Victoria  and  we  could  also  use  the  facilities  of  tbe 
U.  S.  postal  laws  for  remitting  our  publications  to 
other  Spanish  countries,  thus  we  see  the  wisdom 
of  our  Heavenly  Father  in  detaining  us  where  we 
could  be  most  extensively  useful. 

In  the  summer  of  1872  Friends  in  New  York 
furnished  us  a  small  press  and  type  suitable  for 
the  printing  of  tracts,  etc.  We  at  once  issued  our 
monthly  paper  'El  Ramo  de  Olivo'  which  has  been 
continued  to  the  present  time  with  a  constantly  en- 
larging field  of  influence  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 

"The  want  of  suitable  school  books  for  our  Mis- 
sion schools  was  apparent  as  soon  as  they  were  es- 
tablished, which  was  early  in  1872.  The  school 
books  issued  in  Mexico  were  intensely  Catholic, 
those  issued  in  New  York  by  business  firms  though 
less  so,  all  had  Catholic  forms  of  prayer,  while 
those  from  Paris  were  more  or  less  antagonistic  to 
all  religion. 

"We  had  to  begin  with  A.  B.  C.  although  our  First 
Reader  was  better  adapted  to  the  word  method 
than  any  other  book  which  had  preceeded  it.  We 
only  hoped  to  supply — our  own  school  and  144  cop- 
ies were  issued.  This  edition  lasted  over  two 
years  and  was  mostly  circulated  gratuitiously. 
Just  as  it  was  exhausted  in  1874,  Presbyterians 
and  Methodist  Missions  were  organized  inaJl  parts 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  61 

of  the  country  and  our  First  Reader  was  called  for. 
Prom  that  time  to  the  present  it  has  gained  favor 
until  about  1000  copies  per  month  are  sold  to 
schools  in  Mexico,  Texas  and  New  Mexico.  It  ha« 
been  followed  by  a  complete  series  of  reading 
books  decidely  evangelical  in  their  teaching  unex- 
pectedly to  us  they  have  gained  favor  in  many  pub- 
lic schools  in  all  parts  of  Mexico. 

*^As  early  as  1875  the  Catholic  papers  declared 
our  Juvenile  issues  to  be  the  most  dangerous  ele- 
ment they  had  to  encounter  and  unless  they  could 
be  counteracted  the  coming  generation  would  en- 
tirely abandon  Romanism." 

After  getting  located  in  their  new  home  among 
these  Spanish  speaking  people,  their  first  work 
was  to  learn  the  language  that  they  might  be  able 
to  converse  freely  and  understandingly  with  those 
around  them. 

Having  studied  it  nearly  a  year,  he  was  able  to 
use  it  to  a  limited  extent  yet  not  well  enough  for 
him  to  attempt  public  speaking  in  that  language. 

In  June  he  wrote  "I  now  speak  Spanish  with 
nearly  the  same  ease  and  facility  that  I  do  English, 
changing  often  very  rapidly  from  using  one  to  us- 
ing the  other,  acting  as  interpreter  every  day  to 
those  who  use  but  one  language. 

"Gulielma  uses  Spanish  much  less  than  I  do,  I 
think  that  in  a  few  months  she  will  use  it  freely, 
as  after  a  person  once  gains  confidence  in  the  use 
of  their  tongue  they  learn  rapidly." 

An  incident  of  this  period  is  worthy  of  note  as 
he  gave  it  in  the  "Christian  Arbitrator"  Sept.  '95. 


62  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

"The  following  dream  was  related  tx)  me  just  after 
landing  at  Matamoros  in  1871.  An  elderly  lady 
who  had  embraced  Protestantism  whilst  in  the 
United  States,  was  living  in  that  city  with  a  son 
and  two  daughters.  Two  weeks  before  myself  and 
wife  landed  she  had  a  dream,  in  which  she  was 
leading  her  son  along  the  street  and  was  shown  a 
room  which  some  one  said  was  a  church  but  which 
she  said  was  a  carpenter's  shop.  In  the  building 
she  saw  the  young  minister  who  was  to  preach 
there.  The  effect  on  her  mind  was  to  convince  her 
that  her  son,  who  was  then  a  bartender,  would  be 
converted  and  become  a  preacher.  As  we  left 
High  Point,  N.  C,  November  14,  1871,  and  I  landed 
at  Matamoros,  November  28th,  her  dream  was  al- 
most or  quite  the  same  time  of  our  starting.  She 
recognized  me  as  the  person  whom  she  saw  in  her 
dream.  Her  son  was  converted  (presumably  un- 
der his  preaching  Ed.)  about  a  year  later  and  be- 
came a  Presbyterian  minister,  and  is  a  very  suc- 
cessful and  devoted  worker." 

Involved  as  the  country  was  in  a  revolutionary 
struggle  they  were  in  constant  dread  of  an  attack 
upon  Matamoros. 

Under  date  2d.  mo.  24th,  he  wrote  "When  I  wrote 
last  we  supposed  Gen.  Durioga  would  advance 
upon  Matamoros  but  he  still  remains  at  Comargo 
and  we  hope  Matamoros  will  be  spared  the  terrors 
of  bombardment.  We  now  meet  for  Sunday  School 
in  Spanish  vvliich  is  oncoin-aging  to  iis  atul  we  see 
work  enough  ahead  now  to  keep  us  busy  here  for 
a  long  time. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  63 

"We  deeply  feel  the  increasing  responsibilities 
of  our  labors  especially  editorial  as  the  only  voice 
of  peace  and  holiness  free  from  bitter  controversy 
published  in  all  Spanish  America.  Yet  the  work 
is  scarcely  begun,  sixteen  R^^publics  are  awak- 
ing from  their  profound  slumber  and  clamoring 
for  the  light  of  the  gospel  of  truth.  Aztecs  and 
Incas  are  losing  confidence  in  Roman  idols.  We 
bow  in  reverent  gratitude  to  God  that  in  this  event- 
ful period,  we  have  been  called  to  this  Held  and  en- 
abled to  acquire  its  language. " 

A  natural  mechanic,  be  had  made  much  of  his 
household  furniture  in  North  Carolina  and  now  had 
an  extended  field  for  practice  in  the  setting  up  of 
his  printing  press,  the  fitting  up  of  the  press  room; 
and  then  the  whole  work  of  the  office,  from  type 
setting  to  maihng  required  him  for  instruction  and 
foreman  as  his  helpers  were  all  new  and  unskilled 
in  the  work. 

In  August  they  were  busy  issuing  tracts,  transa- 
lations  of  hymns  and  also  some  extracts  from  the 
Life  of  Stephen  Grellet  and  a  sixteen  page  collec- 
tion of  hymns  of  which  he  wrote.  "They  are  a 
beautiful  collection  of  sacred  poems  and  we  think 
will  be  in  great  demand  here  as  Mexicans  love 
poetry." 

So  between  his  work  of  translating,  his  varied 
correspondence  and  his  labors  in  the  printing  office 
every  moment  of  his  time  was  fully  occupied  day 
after  day. 

Early  in  the  year  the  revolutionists  advanced  up- 
on  Matamoros  and   it  was  in  a    state  of  siege    for 


64  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

aereral  months,  keepinj?  them  confined  within  the 
city  walls  so  he  knew  little  about  Mexican  agricul- 
ture, but  he  wrote  "Out  in  the  country  the  people 
live  in  ranches,  in  groups  of  five  to  twenty  families 
associated  for  protection  and  they  always  ride 
armed  coming  to  the  city  in  trains  of  ox  carts, 
pack  mules  or  jackasses." 

On  the  5th.  mo.  30,  he  wrote  "The  Rio  Grande 
has  been  very  low  but  is  now  rising  from  spring  in 
New  Mexico;  when  low  the  water  was  quite  salty 
and  immense  crowds  of  people  were  daily  bathing 
in  the  cool  of  the  day  thereby  saving  a  trip  to  Bra- 
zos on  the  Gulf.  We  were  pressingly  invited  to 
join  some  acquaintances  in  a  bath  in  its  muddy 
waters,  we  are  not  quite  Mexicanized  enough  to  do 
so.  Mexican  women,  boys  and  girls  were  enjoy- 
ing themselves  like  so  many  porpoises.  The  wo- 
men wore  an  under  garment,  but  the  others  were 
mostly  in  natures  attire."  From  5  to  9  p.  m.  there 
were  crowds  of  people  bathing  every  day.  The 
midday  was  so  warm  and  sultry  that  people  stir- 
red very  little  out  of  doors.  His  press  room  was 
in  the  dwelling  house  so  he  was  not  obliged  to  go 
out  very  much;  so  as  they  got  acclimated  they 
found  life  pleasant  and  their  work  mostly  congen- 
ial. As  their  work  and  their  acquaintance  with 
the  needs  of  the  people  increased  they  felt  more 
bound  to  the  field. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  6& 


CHAPTER  VI I. 

MINGLED  RACES. 
"Behold!     I  made  of  one  blood  all  nations. "     Bible. 

Many  of  our  people  in  their  ignorance  of  the 
Spanish  people  have  in  reading  of  the  devastating 
-wars,  the  inhuman  treachery  and  brutal  cruelty  of 
Cortez  and  Pizzaro;  been  led  to  judge  the  nation 
largely  by  that  standard  perhaps  unjustly  and 
thereby  acquire  a  dislike  to  them  in  general  which 
a  fuller  acquaintance  would  not  warrant. 

In  writing  to  his  mother  he  says  "In  the  rela- 
tions of  social  intercourse  the  Spanish  race  is  as 
congenial,  as  ardent  as  their  climate;  which  has  a 
moulding  influence  over  the  national  characteris- 
tics; yet  the  habits  do  not  change  as  rapidly  as  a 
race  changes  climate.  The  two  races  are  here 
brought  in  more  immediate  contact  than  in  many 
other  points  on  the  American  continent. 

"Enter  an  American  home  and  you  are  received 
by  a  mechanical  formality  often  by  a  generous  out- 
gush  of  heartfelt  sympathy,  yet  there  is  a  general 
appearance  of  stolidity,  impassive  quietude.  Enter 
a  Spanish  house  and  you  are  received  by  a  general 
uprising  every  hand  is  at  98  degrees  of  Farenheit, 
if  their  best  seat  is  a  dry  goods  box  you  forget  but 
that  it  is  a  rocking  chair,  and    they  at  once    enter 


66  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

upon  an  open  energetic  conversation.  If  you  meet 
in  the  next  half  hour  you  receive  the  same  warm 
outgushing  salutation;  if  you  meet  daily  it  is  the 
«ame. 

"We  have  yet  to  learn  that  there  is  more  thiev- 
ing in  Mexico  than  in  New  York  in  proportion  to 
the  population.  During  one  year  we  have  lived  in 
daily,  hourly  contact  with  Mexicans,  we  have  found 
them  ever  reliable,  or  at  least  so  much  so  as  the 
same  number  of  Americans.  There  is  however 
among  the  masses  many  who  delight  in  low  amuse- 
ments but  that  is  true  of  any  city.  The  lottery, 
the  theatre  and  cock  fighting  find  their  votaries, 
but  there  is  a  mass  of  people  which  have  a  deep  in- 
terest in  the  useful,  the  permanent  things  of  the 
life  to  come.  President  Juaruz,  the  Lincoln  of 
Mexico,  prohibited  bullfighting,  and  the  Plaza  de 
Tarzo  is  now  a  pasture  of  goats  and  asses,  a  public 
park  for  the  future  city." 

The  native  Mexicans  are  a  mixed  people,  Span- 
ish, Indian  and  Aztec  and  all  grades  of  admixtures 
with  an  addition  of  negro  blood,  so  all  shades  of 
color  are  met  with  from  white  to  «opper,  red  and 
black,  all  mingling  together  pleasantly  and  peac- 
ably. 

Another  feature  in  Mexican  life  he  describes  in 
a  letter  to  his  older  sister  a  little  later. 

"For  some  time  we  had  become  deeply  interest- 
ed in  the  family  of  Estevan  Gallegos  a  peon  (the 
Mexican  slave)  living  three  miles  west  of  Mata- 
moros  but  who  has  been  diligently  attending  our 
reunions  when  his  master  would  allow  him  liberty 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  67 

of  absence.  He  had  requested  to  become  a  mem- 
ber of  a  society  we  had  formed  for  evangelical  in- 
struction, and  although  a  pure  Mexican  Indian 
was  admitted  among  the  members. 

"The  brief  history  of  his  servitude  may  illus- 
trate Mexican  slavery,  possibly  awaken  an  interest 
in  the  cause  of  an  oppressed  people.  Mexican 
slavery  is  firstly  voluntary,  secondly  perpetual. 
Estevan  had  ever  been  a  peon,  but  was  enterpris- 
ing and  diUgent  and  made  his  contracts  of  servi- 
tude on  time,  had  ever  passed  in  good  haciendas, 
whose  liberal  owners  administered  to  his  wants  or 
at  least  made  his  condition  supportable.  A  young 
wife  to  whom  he  become  attached  had  borne  him 
two  little  daughters  and  unaccustomed  to  care  for 
himself  he  could  not  bear  the  idea  of  liberty  in  the 
light  of  such  increasing  responsibilities.  He  ap- 
plied to  the  owner  of  a  hacienda  (or  plantation)  last 
Eleventh  month  for  the  support  of  his  family  during 
the  present  winter,  they  were  thinly  clad,  bare- 
footed and  suffering  from  hunger.  The  owner  of 
the  plantation  promised  to  supply  the  wants  of  the 
family  and  Estevan  entered  joyfully  upon  his  toils. 
The  winter  has  been  unusually  severe,  no  funds 
could  be  gained  from  the  master  to  clothe  the 
young  family,  they  were  reduced  to  strings  and 
our  funds  for  aiding  the  poor  did  not  arrive  until 
■early  in  the  First  month  when  we  visited  the 
hacienda  and  supplied  them  with  clothing.  Este- 
van had  lived  with  a  protestant  family  as  poor  as 
himself  and  desired  to  learn  to  read  the  Bible. 
We  gave  him  a  tract  primer  in  Spanish  and  by  the 


68  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

aid  of  his  friends  he  had  with  undaunted  energy- 
made  great  progress  in  reading;  a  desire  of  liberty 
or  at  least  of  comfort  had  entered  his  soul  and  he 
recently  expressed  a  desire  to  work  in  our  press 
room,  thus  to  sustain  his  family. 

"We  needed  some  one  there  and  his  master  hav- 
ing by  such  evident  neglect  broken  his  contract 
we  determined  upon  his  emancipation.  The  past 
week  has  been  spent  in  this  manner,  anxious  days, 
disquieted  nights  two  hours  conference  with  his 
master  in  our  rooms  in  presence  of  mutual  friend. 
Last  night  the  family  came  and  will  occupy  a 
kitchen  in  our  yard  and  we  have  our  hands  full  in 
the  effort  to  teach  them  how  to  use  their  liberty." 
Having  abundance  of  work  coming  on  he  proved  a 
good  helper  for  them. 

Drawn  in  Christian  love  to  all  these  varied  peo- 
ple, they  found  many  warm  friends  among  them, 
which  prevented  loneliness  in  their  wide  separation 
from  their  loved  ones  in  the  North  land.  So  now 
he  seklom  makes  any  reference  in  his  letters  to 
the  subject;  while  in  his  first  year  in  North  Caro- 
lina nearly  every  letter  gave  expressions  to  his 
longing  to  see  the  old  folks  at  home  and  to  look 
once  more  on  the  familiar  scenes  of  his  boyhood. 

The  contact  with  this  mixture  of  races  must  have 
expanded  in  their  hearts  the  sense  of  universal 
brotherhood  one  of  the  great  fountains  of  mission- 
ary zeal. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  69 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   PUBLISHING   HOUSE. 
The  press  driven  by  "The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword." 

Anticipating  the  arrival  of  the  printing  press 
and  launching  of  his  publishing  business  he  still 
was  planning  to  occupy  his  time  in  various  ways 
outside;  so  on  Fourth  month  27th,  1872,  he  wrote 
his  parents: 

"My  labors  will  be  largely  translating  and  print- 
ing; perhaps  also  a  Prof,  of  English  in  our  Protestant 
school  to  which  all  persons  conforming  to  the  reg- 
ulations will  be  admitted,  the  rich  paying  richly 
for  their  instruction.  If  we  do  not  open  a  school 
(though  I  consider  it  certain  a  large  number  hav- 
ing applied  already)  I  shall  teach  English  classes, 
deliver  scientific  lectures  and  thus  aid  the  cause  of 
science,  the  twin  sister  of  religion  in  the  elevation 
of  the  human  race.  In  this  manner  we  hope  to 
overcome  the  holy  horror  of  Protestanism  among 
the  better  class  of  residents  and  meantime  do  all 
we  can  for  the  elevation  of  the  sons  of  Guatineszin 
and  not  forget  our  negro  population. 

"Of  course  I  can  only  hope  to  teach  classes  at 
given  hours.  I  think  our  teacher  will  be  Eugenia 
Rino,  a  young  lady  well  educated  in  the  Protestant 
schools  of  Brownsville  with  whom  we  are  well  ac- 
quainted. 


70  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

"I  have  had  meetings  at  Brownsville  two  First 
days  at  10  a.  m.  and  expect  to  have  another  tomor- 
row." "I  forgot  to  say  we  are  living  in  the  house 
formerly  occupied  by  Gen.  Palorios,  commander 
of  the  forces  at  Matamoros;  his  parlor  is  our  meet- 
ing room,  very  probably^his  former  office  was  our 
book  room,  the  peace  office^of  Friends  for  Spanish 
America." 

The  first  number  of  the  "Olive  Branch,"  his 
monthly  periodical,  "El  Ramode  Olivo"  was  issued 
about  1st  of  September  1872  and  the  demand  for 
evangelical  literature  increasing  he  was  constantly 
employed  in  translating  and  printing  with  several 
assistants  in  the  press-room,  issuing  tracts  and 
hymns  and  various  extracts  from  English  litera- 
ture. 

Previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  printing  press  he 
was  occupied  in  distributing  tracts  and  bibles  sent 
from  the  north,  in  studying  the  language  and  get- 
ting acquainted  with  the  people,  also  in  fitting  up 
his  rooms  for  school  and  perhaps  meetings. 

The  city  being  in  a  stage  of  siege  his  work  was 
all  within  the^walls,  otherwise  he  might  have  made 
a  much  desired  visit  to  Tampico,  Victoria  and  other 
points  in  Southern  Tamaulipas  in  the  interest  of 
his  mission  work. 

On  5th  month  30th  he  wrote  to  his  mother,  "The 
work  here  in  Matamoros  continues  interesting  but 
I  long  for  the  time  when  other  hearts  shall  feel  the 
power  of  thegospel.  The  delay  in  our  press  com- 
ing is  a  new  trial,  two  or  three  days  too  late  for  the 
ship  and  ajmonth  to  wait  for  another. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  71 

"We  have  been  arranging  for  a  school  and  I  have 
been  making  some  household  furniture  and  read- 
ing the  History  of  Mexico;  by  Marares  Arroniz, 
brief,  new  and  interesting,  published  in  Paris  as 
are  most  Spanish  books  sold  in  Mexico.  They  are 
just  now  very  busy  selling  a  supply  of  Catholic 
books  printed  in  Mexico.  They  are  mostly  prayers 
of  saints  or  dogmas  of  the  church  of  Rome  sold  as 
remedies  for  diseases,  of  both  body  and  soul, 

"We  undersell  them  but  do  not  recommend  our 
books  for  toothache  nor  rheumatism."  In  the  7th 
month  the  press  arrived  and  was  installed  with  a 
supply  of  type  to  meet  present  needs  to  which  50 
pounds  more  were  added  a  few  months  later. 

He  wrote  his  sister  8th  month  13th,  "I  have  been 
very  busy  thus  far  this  month  with  the  press.  We 
printed  on  the  first  a  tract  of  four  pages  consisting 
of  "Just  as  I  am"  and  "Glory  to  God  in  the  High- 
est." Since  then  the  press  and  type  have  been  ar- 
ranged in  much  better  order  and  has  been  in  oper- 
ation every  day.  We  can  not  readily  print  more 
than  4000  pages  16  mo  per  day  or  8000  pages  of 
hymns.  It  usually  takes  as  long  to  set  type  as  to 
print  1000  copies  of  the  form." 

About  this  time  they  printed  in  a  16-page  pam- 
phlet a  life  of  Stephen  GreUet;  and  soon  after  got 
out  the  first  number  of  the  Olive  Branch.  He  had 
at  this  time  two  assistants    of    whom    he    said, 

"We  have  now  the  assistance  of  Elizia  Plores 
as  type  setter,  she  is  a  well  educated  girl  but 
very  bashful.  Emiliana  Incarnacion  Plores  is 
much  better  educated  and  is  a  very  easy  writer,. 


72  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

does  all  our  copying  and  corrects  all  translation. 

His  reading  and  studying  of  Spanish  and  English 
books  and  papers  in  addition  to  his  office  work 
must  have  kept  him  more  than  busy. 

Later  he  wrote  his  sister,  "It  never  occured  to 
our  minds  that  a  small  press  would  keep  us  as 
busy  and  require  so  much  writing  to  fill  the  paper. 
Translating,  selecting  pictures,  etc.,  keep  us  very 
busy  and  then  we  have  to  do  all  the  printing.  I  love 
to  print,  yet  it  is  tiresome,  especially  to  the  feet  and 
legs  to  stand  up  all  day  when  working  the  press. 

"Sometimes  we  get  tired  of  staying  but  soon  be- 
come reconciled  when  we  see  some  encouragement 
in  the  work.  We  have  plenty  of  girls  to  help  us 
and  as  Gulielma  has  a  day  school  in  English  for  six 
French  and  five  Mexicans,  we  have  plenty  of  little 
players  around  our  rooms  to  keep  us  not  only  hap- 
py but  watchful.  Gulielma  talks  English,  Span- 
ish and  Alica  Dessommes  translates  for  her  in 
French  when  speaking  to  those  who  do  not  talk 
English.  Thus  in  play  and  in  study  we  hear  three 
languages  every  day  almost  every  hour.  It  is  busy 
life,  almost  too  busy  for  pleasure,  yet  we  want  to 
do  all  the  good  we  can  and  so  we  keep  busy  all  the 
time.  Sometimes  we  get  lonely  but  have  little 
time  to  think  of  such  things  as  we  have  company 
almost  every  hour  that  we  are  awake." 

The  change  from  life  in  North  Carolina  has  been 
great.  "We  meet  every  First  day  at  4  p.m.  in  a 
Sabbath  School  followed  by  a  meeting  for  worship 
in  Spanish,  also  every  Fifth  day  at  7  p.  m.  we  meet 
in  the  Mission  room. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  73 

"The  regular  establishment  of  a  Friends  meet- 
ing here  we  think  a  probability  but  there  is  wide 
room  yet  for  making  our  principles  known.  The 
Protestants  seem  to  appreciate  the  principles  of 
Friends  as  far  as  we  have  spoken  about  them,  but 
we  have  no  tracts  or  books  setting  forth  a  concise 
statement  of  our  peculiar  doctrines  and  we  cannot 
publish  them  till  we  do." 

His  work  was  sustained  by  Friends  Association 
in  the  north,  and  as  it  was  by  voluntary  offerings 
his  needs  were  not  always  met  as  promptly  as  he 
could  wish. 

In  a  letter  to  his  sister  Second  month  1873,  he 
requests  her  to  solicit  funds  in  her  locality  for  his 
printing  work  and  adds  "we  are  now  desiring  to 
print  Epistles  and  Gospels  and  circulate  them  in 
all  parts  of  Mexico.  Some  are  sold,  others  donat- 
ed, the  returns  generally  pay  postage  and  here  in 
the  city  sustain  those  who  are  occupied  in  sell- 
ing and  we  sometimes  get  a  little  toward  reprint- 
ing, etc. 

"The  Missionary  Association  pays  us  what  we  ex- 
pend for  our  own  wants  as  reported  from  month 
to  month.  We  make  nothing  but  have  no  greater 
anxiety  that  is  caused  by  the  rapid  increase  of  our 
press  work  which  is  sustained  by  voluntary  do- 
nations. 

"We  stand  responsible  for  the  wages  of  four  as- 
sistants in  our  type  and  press  room,  but  have  nev- 
yet  been  disappointed.  Last  year  we  expended 
about  $100  in  the  purchase  of  tracts  printed  in  New 
York,  this  year  we  shall  try  to  expend    all    our 


74  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

funds  on  the  press  here;  thus  $25  will  pay  the  cost 
of  1000  copies  of  the  Epistle  of  James  in  large  type, 
of  this  $20  will  be  applied  to  the  support  of  poor 
protestants  by  the  employment  it  gives  them. 
They  will  be  mailed  to  Mexico  City,  Acapulc  Vera 
Cruz,  Zacatecas,  and  sent  by  passes  to  all  parts  of 
Tamaulipas  and  Nuevo  Leon,  Thus  scattering 
Bible  truth  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  Isthmus  of 
Tehuantepec." 

Full  of  enthusiasm  in  the  work  he  sought  to  meet 
every  opportunity  for  service,  and  soon  found  him- 
self the  center  of  a  constantly  expanding  field  of 
activity. 

He  began  with  the  publication  of  religious  litera- 
ture but  soon  a  need  of  school  books  opened  a  new 
channel  for  effort  in  both  writing  and  printing, 
giving  abundant  work  for  all  his  force. 

After  being  in  a  state  of  siege  for  months,  with 
repeated  fears  of  attack  and  bombardment,  it  was 
a  cause  for  rejoicing  when  peace  was  restored  and 
the  enemy  withdrew  their  forces  in  the  summer 
of  1872. 

After  Dearly  a  year  of  close  confinement  in  this 
city  by  the  sea  with  its  fog  and  damp,  its  rain  and 
mud  and  salt  sea  water,  it  is  not  strange  that  he 
was  looking  toward  Victoria,  that  inland  elevated 
and  healthy  city  which  he  had  chosen  as  the  site 
for  his  mission  work  ere  his  arrival  in  the  country. 

On  Eighth  month  23  he  writes,  "The  school  is 
small  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  a  fever,  the  most 
universal  I  ever  saw  any  disease.  Dear  Guli  was 
sick  a  week  with  it,  but  with  care  and  medicine  is 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  75 

now  well  again;  seven  in  the  same  building  have 
been  sick  with  it  besides  four  of  the  school  chil- 
dren. 

"A  regular  deluge  has  changed  the  air  and  we 
hope  the  disease  is  stayed.  The  proclamation  of 
peace  throughout  Northern  Mexico  makes  us  al- 
most inclined  to  wing  our  way  to  the  lofty  table 
lands  for  a  good  drink  of  water  and  view  of  som^ 
thing  besides  a  desert  plain  and  the  dull  realities 
of  city  life. 

"They  consider  agriculture  a  total  failure  here. 
Five  years  ago  there  was  one  harvest,  but  the  peo- 
ple who  sowed  in  the  hope  it  inspired  have  buried 
their  money  too  deep  far  recovery.  There  is  no 
good  water  nearer  than  150  miles,  all  being  one 
uniform  arid  plain.  The  trade  with  the  interior  is 
now  active  and  the  mail  line  will  soon  open  to  Mon- 
terey and  Santo  Rosa.  The  circulation  of  the  Bible 
in  Tamaulipas  is  now  thrown  into  our  hands,  by  the 
donation  to  us  of  their  books  at  Victoria,  by  the 
Mission  in  the  state  of  Nevo  Leon. 

"This  increases  our  responsibility,  making  1,000 
Bibles,  testaments  and  portions,  donated  since  we 
left  home;  we  can  do  very  little  more  here  in  Bible 
distribution  as  those  who  wish  have  already  pro- 
cured them,  and  the  country  we  cannot  visit  whilst 
we  are  responsible  for  such  expenses  as  are  un- 
avoidable in  such  a  city.  During  all  the  war  there 
was  no  attack  upon  Victoria,  and  the  prospect  for 
a  considerable  peace,  and  our  now  being  as  able  to 
write  and  read  Spanish  as  we  are  our  native  tongue, 
makes  us  almost  conclude  that  we  had  best  pro- 


76  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

tect  our  health  and  provide  for  our  comfort  whilst 
we  can  do  so  and  save  at  least  $175  of  rent  annually 
by  a  ride  of  seven  days  (to  Victoria)  and  in  reach  of 
a  weekly  mail  line  to  this  city,  and  better  facilities 
for  communication  to  Tampico.  We  shall  have 
time  for  investigation  and  consideration,  we  hope 
we  shall  not  expose  ourselves  to  too  much  danger 
from  tropical  fevers;  to  avoid  a  danger  not  at  all 
immanent  of  encountering  the  perils  of  a  possible 
war." 

Fertile  in  thought  and  imagination,  he  was  ever 
forming  plans  for  the  future  much  faster  than  he 
could  execute  them;  so  these  plans  were  delayed 
by  subsequent  events  for  years  ere  their  final  ful- 
fillment. 

Getting  tired  of  the  confinement  of  city  life,  and 
wanting  a  little  fresh  air,  on  the  last  of  March 
1873,  they  moved  to  the  south  side  of  town,  far  out 
among  the  shade  trees  and  gardens,  with  a  large 
yard  filled  with  a  great  variety  of  tropical  fruit 
trees  and  plants.  About  a  mile  from  the  business 
part  of  the  city.  This  quiet  country  like  home 
proved  much  more  pleasant  than  the  crowded  ten- 
ements they  had  left  and  gave  promise  to  be  more 
healthful. 

Rewrote,  "This  coast  is  sandy  and  any  well  of 
twenty  feet  in  depth  admits  the  salt  gulf  water. 
The  new  steam  water  works  supply  this  part  of 
the  city  with  water  fresh  from  the  current  of  the 
Rio  Grande  which  settles  in  the  tanks  so  that  it  is 
fully  as  good  as  Croton  water  of  New  York  city  or 
Fairmount  at  Philadelphia. 


OP  SAMUEL  A,  PUKDIE  77 

"We  have  concluded  that  a  country  location  like 
this  will  be  both  pleasant  and  healthful  and  we 
shall  probably  make  this  our  permanent  home 
whilst  in  Mexico.  We  have  been  having  a  wind 
storm,  such  winds  you  never  saw,  though  less  vio- 
lent than  some  have  been.  Six  years  ago  Mata- 
moros  was  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  one  of 
these  south  winds,  the  brick  houses  of  only  one 
story  and  strongly  built  were  piled  about  in  terri- 
ble confusion.  For  three  days  past  this  wind  has 
been  raging  without  a  single  intermission  and  as 
there  is  not  a  single  hill  between  here  and  Tampico 
the  wind  has  fair  play." 

Ready  always  to  take  up  the  work  nearest  at 
hand  to  embrace  every  opportunity  for  usefulness, 
his  plans  for  the  future  did  not  check  the  current 
of  his  daily  work. 


LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  IX. 

A  TRIP  TO  VICTORIA. 

There  is  a  life  we  may  live 

That  is  richer  and  better 
Than  his  wlio  for  riches  is  striving-; 

If  we  seek  for  the  needy 
A  neighbor  or  a  brother 

Who   in   some  lone  pathway  is  stumbling. 

Ever  since  their  arrival  at  Matamoros  he  had 
been  anticipating  a  visit  to  Victoria  the  city  of  his 
intended  destination,  he  was  anxious  to  look  over 
the  ground  and  introduce  in  some  measure  his 
work  among  the  people  of  Southern  Tamaulipas. 

This  city  is  situated  on  the  table  land  at  an  ele- 
vation of  2,000  feet  above  the  gulf  of  Mexico  and 
distant  from  it  about  thirty  miles  on  the  river  San 
Marcos  surrounded  by  a  fertile  country  producing 
tropical  fruits  in  luxuriant  profusion. 

Gulielma  having  been  in  poor  health  for  some 
time  a  vacation  and  change  to  a  dryer  and  more 
elevated  location  seemed  advisable;  vrith  the  hope 
that  it  might  be  of  much  benefit  to  her. 

They  having  been  in  the  work  now  for  a  year 
and  a  half  had  acquired  the  use  of  the  language  so 
perfectly  as  to  tit  both  of  them  for  the  journey  in 
that  respect  nnd  by  the  circulatien  of  El  Ramo  de 
Olive  and  other  of  their  publicaLiozis  they  had  be- 
come known  to  many  in  that    section,    it    seemed 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  79 

that  the  time  had  arrived  to  undertake  it.  There- 
fore about  the  first  of  May  1873  accompanied  by- 
Anthony  T.  Graybil,  a  missionary  under  the  Pres- 
byterian Board  they  started.  They  drove  in  a  car- 
riage to  Victoria,  most  of  the  way  a  sandy  plain 
covered  with  an  endless  variety  of  cactus  plants, 
so  numerous  that  Samuel  said  of  them  "that  there 
was  moie  cactus  there  than  he  supposed  there 
were  in  the  world." 

San  Fernando  was  half  way  station  nearly  on  th« 
direct  road  to  Victoria  the  other  stations  lying 
among  the  mountains  to  the  west  which  were 
reached  on  horseback.  While  the  toil  and  expos- 
ure of  the  journey  were  at  times  wearisome  yet  on 
the  whole  the  change  of  scene  and  climate  was  of 
benefit  to  Gulielma. 

A  few  months  after  he  wrote  "Until  our  visit  to 
Victoria  her  health  often  gave  us  some  uneasiness 
but  the  journey,  changing  scenes  and  mountain  air 
seemed  to  be  very  beneficial  and  for  some  time  we 
thought  she  seemed  like  regaining  her  usual  health. 

"That  her  disease  was  purely  pulmonary  con- 
sumption with  all  its  deceitful  fluctuations  seems 
certain.  Yet  she  is  otherwise  in  quite  comfortable 
health,  has  suffered  less  physically  than  formerly 
and  often  expresses  her  thankfulness  that  her  ill- 
ness is  not  painfiul;  yet  she  complains  much  of 
weakness  of  the  lungs  and  difficulty  in  breathing  a 
long  breath.  Since  the  death  of  her  most  inti- 
mate schoolmate,  Mary  Jane  Winslow,  now  over  a 
year,  she  has  often  spoken  of  the  similarity  of  their 
condition  when  they  last  seperated  and  quite  fre- 


80  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

quently  dreams  of  their  meeting  in  a  better  land." 
And  yet  this  little  woman  in  the  nearly  thirty-five 
years  that  have  since  passed  has  been  through 
struggles  and  dangers,  through  privations  and  af- 
flictions more  severe  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  most  of 
us,  and  is  still  striving  to  make  the  lives  of  those 
around  her  better  and  happier. 

On  their  return  trip  he  speaks  of  stopping  for  the 
night  at  a  small  village  v^^here  they  were  entertain- 
ed with  much  hospitality  by  a  well  to  do  family; 
while  the  host  showed  little  interest  in  religious 
matters  he  seemed  willing  and  ready  to  help  them 
on  their  way  and  also  expressed  satisfaction  with 
their  stay.  As  they  were  about  to  leave  in  the 
morning  he  said  the  way  was  somewhat  danger- 
ous and  he  would  accompany  them  a  little  way,  so 
mounting  his  horse  he  rode  beside  them  for  about 
six  miles  when  coming  to  a  wood  among  the  hills 
he  told  them  to  stop  while  he  went  forward  out  of 
their  sight  and  at  a  concerted  signal  from  him  to 
move  on,  he  passed  along  and  soon  they  heard  the 
discharge  of  his  pistol,  moving  forward  they  found 
him  alone;  then  with  a  pleasant  farewell  he  sent 
them  forward  while  he  returned.  They  reached 
home  safely  and  afterward  learned  that  their  kind 
host  was  the  leader  of  a  gang  of  highwaymen  who 
operated  in  that  region.  So  they  could  but  feel 
that  they  had  passed  through  "peril  of  robbers" 
on  the  journey.  About  a  year  later  he  turned 
from  his  sinful  Ufe,  sought  religious  teaching  and 
became  a  useful  man.  The  fruit  with  little  doubt 
of  Samuel's  memorbale  tarry  with  him. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  81 

Friends  in  the  north  encouraged  by  the  pro- 
gress of  the  mission  and  seeing  the  growth  of  the 
work  which  was  so  ably  conducted  with  its  con- 
stantly increasing  burdens  by  those  in  the  field, 
thought  best  to  send  additional  workers  to  their 
assistance.  In  the  summer  of  1873  the  Missionary 
Committee  of  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  having  en- 
gaged the  services  of  two  young  Friends  of  Car- 
thage, Indiana.  Micajah  M.  and  Susie  R.  Binford, 
started  them  forward  in  the  autumn  to  the  field. 

He  wrote  "I  hope  we  shall  be  able  to  start  a 
school  as  soon  as  they  get  here." 

And  speaks  of  being  very  tired  putting  out  fig 
trees,  flowers,  cactus  and  other  plants  and  found 
one  of  his  feet  badly  blistered  from  traveling  over 
the  prarie  seeking  wild  flowers. 

We  of  the  north  land  can  hardly  realize  the  lux- 
uriance of  those  tropical  growths,  possible  with 
little  care  and  cultivation.  A  month  before  he  had 
written  of  their  pet  singing  birds.  "We  have  now 
alive  and  well  one  parrot,  one  mocking  bird,  one 
regular  canary,  and  Mexican  yellow  hammer  also 
two  other  birds  from  the  mountains,  one  a  dull 
green,  is  a  most  beautiful  singer,  the  other  more 
beautiful  than  the  oriole  is  wonderfully  still  all  the 
others  sing  loudly." 

Coming  with  a  warm  welcome  to  such  surround- 
ings the  new  comers  must  have  soon  felt  at  home 
and  ready  to  go  on  with  the  study  of  the  Spanish 
language,  their  first  work  on  entering  this  new 
field.  Very  few  have  the  gift  for  acquiring  another 
tongue  which  was  shown  by    Samuel  Purdie,  who 


82  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

after  being  there  less  than  two  years  he  was  read- 
ing in  Spanish,  French  and  Latin,  and  speaking 
fluently  in  all  except  the  last  which  is  a  dead  lan- 
guage not  now  spoken  by  any  people. 

The  amount  of  reading  which  he  did  in  these 
three  and  in  English  was  something  stupendous  in 
one  upon  whom  rested  the  whole  care  of  the  mis- 
sion. 

He  wrote  his  sister  "Our  friends  have  to  pass 
through  some  curious  experiences  as  they  have 
never  before  studied  any  foreign  language.  Last 
fifth  day  night  at  meeting  Micajah  spoke  through 
me  as  interperter,  and  was  surprised  to  learn  that 
I  had  just  been  preaching  in  almost  the  same 
words.  I  recently  received  a  letter  from  home 
with  the  money  they  sent  from  Smyrna. 

"We  have  been  greatly  relieved  by  several  recent 
donations  and  the  printing  work  is  released  from 
the  indebtedness  incurred,  last  spring  and  sum- 
mer, and  we  are  likely  to  go  ahead  faster  than  ever. 
It  seems  important  that  we  should  try  to  open  a 
wider  sphere  of  circulation  for  our  books  and  pa- 
pers and  Yucatan  has  been  before  my  mind  for 
some  time." 

So  with  an  increase  to  the  force  of  the  mission, 
they  were  able  to  enlarge  the  work  both  in  the 
office  and  outside,  without  added  strain  te  the  al- 
ready heavily  burdened  leaders. 

The  Binfords  were  pleasant  company  as  well  as 
cheerful  helpers  at  the  mission  and  must  have 
brought  a  little  sunshine  to  the  busy  workers  who 
had  held  the  fort  so  valiantly  in  the  past. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  83 

Brought  up  in  plenty  if  not  luxury  at  home,  they 
hardly  knew  how  to  accept  much  less  to  enjoy  pri- 
vations inseparable  from  their  changed  surround- 
ings. Susie  not  very  strong  did  not  bear  the 
changed  climate  and  environments  and  gradually 
declined  in  health  until  it  seemed  best  for  them  to 
return  to  their  old  home,  for  a  temporary  sojourn 
at  least. 

Giving  him  an  opportunity  to  present  the  needs 
of  the  mission  and  secure  aid;  in  which  he  was 
quite  successful.  Indiana  Yearly  Meeting  appro- 
priated $1,500  and  Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and 
New  York  added  largely  to  it. 


84        LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  STORY  OF  ANGELITA. 

"Who  hath  not  learned  in  hours  of  faith 
The  truth  to  flesh  and  sense  unknown 
That  life  is  ever  lord  of  Death 
And  love  can  never  lose  its  own." 

— Snowbound. 

We'  will  at  this  time  introduce  to  the  reader 
another  worker  who  was,  until  called  higher,  a 
prominent  factor  in  the  success  of  the  mission. 

So  highly  esteemed  was  she  that  after  her  death 
Samuel  wrote  a  sketch  of  her  life  which  was  pub- 
lished in  Chicago  in  1885  under  the  title  "  Memories 
of  Angelita'Aguilar  de  Mascorro"  and  sketches  of 
Friends  Mexican  Mission. 

From  this  we  quote  largely  for  this  chapter  and 
occasionally  in  succeeding  ones. 

About  midway  between  Matamoras  and  Tampi- 
co  is  the  village  of  Soto  la  Marino  (the  Marine 
Forest)  about  thirty  miles  from  the  coast  on  the 
Rio  de  la  Marina  whose  banks  are  lined  with  mag- 
nificent forests  of  giant  tropical  trees.  The  forests 
still  abound  in  jaguars  and  other  tropical  animals 
and  countless  flocks  of  parrots,  whilst  the  water  is 
prolific  in  aligators  and  the  manitee  or  aquatic  cow. 
In  a  humble  dwelling  in  the  village  lived  a  young 
couple  by  the  name  of  Aguilar.  Here  their  first 
daughter  was  born  August  2,  1858  and  when  she 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  85 

■was  but  a  few  weeks  old  her  pious  parents  took 
her  to  the  parish  church  where  she  was  baptized  as 
Angela  and  as  she  had  a  right  to  both  paternal  and 
maternal  surnames,  her  true  name  was  Angela 
Aquilar  y  Zuniga;  being  a  pet  her  name  takes  the 
diminutive  ita  and  for  years  she  was  called  Angel- 
ita.  Brought  up  to  reverence  the  virgin  and  follow 
the  blind  superstitions  of  the  priesthood  in  a  home 
where  a  few  pictures  of  the  Saints  were  purchased 
and  sprinkled  with  holy  water  by  the  priest  for  the 
small  sum  of  twenty-five  cents  each,  and  one  cor- 
ner of  their  humble  cabin  was  arranged  so  [as  to 
form  a  kind  of  altar  before  which  they  could  kneel 
and  count  beads  and  say  prayers.  Some  small 
printed  prayers  or  amulets  were  also  purchased 
from  the  priest  as  preventatives  of  certain  disease 
as  well  as  remedies  for  many  of  the  evils  flesh  is 
heir  to. 

Hor  father  died  and  her  mother  soon  after^with 
her  three  children  removed  to  the  village  of  ^San 
Fernando  and  was  employed  as  house  servant. 

Angelita  was  now  a  robust  girl  of  about  a  doaen 
summers  and  spent  the  week  days  in  the  village 
free  school;  in  which  they  taught  the  elementary 
branches  and  embroidery  of  various  kinds,  also 
worsted  figure  work  on  perforated  paper,  A  text 
book  on  "Urbanity"  or  "Good  Manners,"  is  consid- 
ered indispensible  and  form  the  basis  of  that 
courtesy  and  politeness  so  noticeable  in  Mexican 
society. 

Thrown  under  the  influence  and  in  contact  with 
Catholic  people  she  soon  became  a  member  and 


86  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

constant  attendant  on  the  church  services,  well 
known  for  her  devotion  to  the  principles  and  prac- 
tice of  the  Catholic  church. 

In  1874  the  family  removed  to  Matamoras,  the 
two  other  children  were  a  sister,  Encarnacion  aged 
twelve,  and  a  brother,  Manuel  aged  four,  while 
she  was  fifteen;  and  soon  took  an  active  part  in  the 
Roman  church  in  that  city. 

Such  was  her  life  when  an  unexpected  incident 
crossed  her  pathway.  She  had  been  intimate  in 
San  Fernando  with  a  sister  of  their  host,  known  as 
Petra,  who  lived  near  Julian  Mireles  the  colporter 
who  had  visited  San  Fernando.  Julian  had  a 
daughter  Gertrudis,  an  excellent  singer  and  a  de- 
vout Protestant,  who  invited  Petra  to  accompany 
her  to  the  reunion  or  meeting  of  the  "Friends," 
which  she  gladly  consented  to  do  and  was  greatly 
pleased  with  the  singing.  A  few  days  afterwards 
her  intimate  friend  Angelita  came  to  visit  her  and 
was  introduced  to  Gertrudis  and  was  requested  by 
Petra  to  attend  the  Friends  meeting  where  she 
could  see  how  their  singing  would  compare  with 
that  of  the  Catholic  choir  of  which  Angelita  was  a 
well  known  vocalist.  She  had  lost  somewhat  her 
fear  of  heretics,  the  presence  of  two  large  Protest- 
aint  congregations  was  a  fact  known  to  all  the  resi- 
dents, and  her  mother  was  servant  in  a  family  of 
foreigners  who  were  secretly  Protestants.  Thus 
when  invited  by  Gertrudis  she  consented  to  ac- 
companyjher  to  the  meeting  out  of  curiosity  only. 
It  was  a  beautiful  night  in  June  1875  that  with 
many  misgivings  of  conscience  she  attended  the 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  87 

Friends  Mission  and  without  the  least  thought  that 
she  would  ever  enter  the  place  again.  The  hall 
had  plain  undecorated  walls,  was  lit  by  side  lamps, 
at  one  end  was  a  desk.  Two  preachers,  both  young 
men,  sat  behind  the  desk  on  the  same  level  as  the 
congregation.  The  street  doors  were  open  and 
and  oftentimes  small  groups  of  passers  by  stopped 
to  listen  to  services,  some  quiet  and  attentive,  oth- 
ers boisterous  and  reviling. 

The  speakers  and  audience  were  so  accustomed 
to  these  inconveniences  that  they  did  not  appear  to 
be  in  the  least  disturbed  by  them. 

These  were  however  novel  scenes  for  the  new 
comer  and  she  would  not  fail  to  note  the  contrast 
between  this  scene  and  the  spacious  naves  and 
heavy  columns  of  the  Catholic  church  edifice,  with 
the  long  rows  of  pictures  and  statues  of  the 
Saints  on  each  side  and  the  altar  in  the  front  glow- 
ing with  gold  and  tinsel  and  the  new  chandeliers 
with  their  gaudy  glow  of  glass  prisms  which  had 
but  a  short  time  previously  cost  over  $700  and  had 
been  formally  hlensed  amid  the  showers  of  incense 
and  great  demonstrations  of  jubilee  in  the  presence 
of  over  2000  spectators. 

Here  everything  was  rude  and  simple,  but  the 
language  flowed  forth  not  in  the  accustomed  Latin 
of  the  Romanish  service  but  in  clear  words  in  the 
language  of  the  listeners.  A  hymn  was  read  by 
M.  M.  Binford  and  sung  by  the  congregation,  fol- 
lowed by  scripture  reading  and  remarks.  One  of 
the  preachers  knelt  in  prayer,  followed  by  a  brief 
and  pointed  sermon  on  the  value  of  the  Bible  k> 


88  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

teach  us  the  will  of  God,  and  the  power  of  Christ  to 
save  men  from  their  sins.  As  Angelita  listened  to 
these  words  she  lost  her  confidence  in  the  shadowy 
forms  of  Romanism  and  then  and  there  resolved  to 
be  a  Protestant.  At  the  close  a  hymn  was  sung 
and  S.  A.  Purdie  said  simply  "May  God  accom- 
pany all  with  his  blessing  as  we  separate."  She 
attended  the  next  meeting  on  Sabbath  afternoon 
which  tended  to  confirm  her  in  her  adhesion  to  the 
Protestant  faith. 

During  the  week  she  was  visited  by  Gulielma» 
who  presented  her  a  beautiful  little  pamphlet  en- 
titled "Father  Ignocis  and  his  Victims,"  a  deeply 
touching  narrative  of  the  conversion  of  a  Spanish 
Countess  who  was  burned  at  the  stake  in  1559. 
The  following  Sabbath  she  made  known  her  con- 
viction and  her  resolution  to  openly  throw  aside  all 
allegiance  to  Rome  and  publicly  declare  herself  a 
Protestant.  It  was  a  severe  trial  for  she  was  nat- 
urally timid  and  she  knew  this  step  would  sever 
many  ties  with  former  associates  and  would  bring 
upon  her  both  ridicule  and  persecution. 

At  the  close  of  the  meeting  the  preachers,  Bin- 
ford  and  Purdie,  held  conversation  with  her  and 
inquired  as  to  her  experience  and  purposes.  Her 
answers  were  clear  and  decisive.  She  believed 
herself  to  be  a  child  of  God  through  faith  in  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  and  was  determined  by  the 
promised  grace  of  God  to  bring  her  life  into  full 
conformity  with  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ; 
and  was  ready  to  join  in  membership  with  Friends, 
Her  sister  was  fully  prepared  to  second  the  move- 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  89 

ment  and  be  one  with  her  in  Christian  faith.  At 
the  next  business  meeting  of  the  society  the:r 
names  were  presented  and  they  were  received  as 
members  by  their  making  a  public  profession  of 
their  faith  and  acceptance  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
as  their  rule  of  life  and  conduct.  On  the  next  Sab- 
bath the  sixth  of  Eight  month  1875  at  the  public 
meeting  held  in  the  evening  the  opportunity  was 
given  and  these  two  young  sisters  made  a  pubhc 
profession  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  assembly. 
Each  rising  at  her  seat,  so  that  all  present  might 
feel  the  force  of  their  testimony  for  Jesus.  They 
were  thus  received  with  welcome  to  a  part  in  tiie 
fellowship  and  privileges  of  the  society  as  well  as 
its  duties  and  responsibilities,  its  trials  and  hard- 
ships." And  through  the  remainder  of  her  brief 
life  Angelita  proved  one  of  the  most  useful  of  the 
mission  converts  of  whom  further  mention  will  be 
made  in  subsequent  chapters. 


90  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  XI. 

VISIT  TO  SOUTHERN  TAMAULIPAS. 

"Behold  I  send  you  forth  to  all  the   world   to   preach   the 
gospel  to  every  creature." — Bible. 

Leaving  for  a  time  these  young  people,  whose 
history  has  given  us  such  a  glimpse  of  Catholic 
superstition  and  the  power  of  the  gospel  to  lift 
above  it,  we  will  take  up  again  the  busy  life  of  the 
mission,  the  burden  of  which  must  have  increased 
upon  those  remaining  after  the  departure  of  a  part 
of  the  force  for  their  northern  home. 

This  and  the  dampness  oF  the  climate  and  close 
indoors  work  seem  to  have  worn  on  Samuel's  health, 
until  he  felt  the  need  of  a  vacation  and  also  his  de- 
sire for  the  progress  of  the  work  in  the  southern 
mission  stations  brought  him  to  the  conclusion  to 
leave  work  at  home  for  a  time  and  make  a  journey 
by  sail  to  Tampico. 

There  were  no  steamers  running  along  the  coast 
at  this  time;  so  he  was  glad  to  secure  passage  with 
a  few  others  on  the  "Los  Hermanos,"  a  sloop  of 
sixteen  tons  burden  drawing  only  two  feet  eight 
inches  water.  Starting  on  Dec.  15th,  1875,  they 
were  three  days  running  down  the  Rio  Grande  to 
Bagdad  a  land  distance  of  thirty-two  miles,  but  by 
the  river  channel  three  times  that  distance.  Here 
they  were  detained  four  days  by  contrary  winds 
before  they  were  able  to  cross  the  bar,  an  exper- 


OF  SAMUEL.  A.  PURDIE  91 

ience  far  from  pleasant  as  he  describes  it  to  his 
wife  in  a  letter  written  on  the  voyage  from  which 
we  quote,  "We  had  been  ordered  to  enter  the 
camarote  or  little  cabin.  As  we  neared  the  foam- 
ing breakers  the  'Capt.'  slipped  down  the  tail- 
board of  our  bttle  door  and  shut  to  the  upper  door, 
drawing  down  a  tarpauling  above  them,  thus  shut- 
ting us  in  our  little  dungeon  in  utter  darkness. 
Quintero  lit  our  lamp  to  remedy  the  latter  evil  and 
just  then  we  struck  the  breakers,  a  wave  lifted  our 
stern,  and  in  a  moment  another  broke  over  our 
frail  bark  there  was  a  general  moving  of  all  things 
movable,  above  and  below;  a  rush  of  waters  over 
our  heads  which  came  dripping  down  through  the 
coverings;  we  were  for  a  moment  beneath  a  surg- 
ing wave,  another  strong  wave  rolled  in  but  we 
rose  above  it,  and  for  a  few  moments  there  was  a 
fierce  struggle  with  the  breakers,  but  soon  the 
sounder  said  four  feet,  four  feet  and  one  half,  five 
feet,  and  we  had  crossed  the  bar,  where  so  many 
shipwrecks  have  occurred." 

On  the  27th  he  again  continued  his  narrative 
some  of  which  has  necessarily  been  omitted,  by 
writing  as  follows: 

"The  last  I  wrote  was  Christmas,  the  day  was 
calm  and  pleasant  and  the  mariners  cooked  two 
hens  and  tried  to  be  a  little  lively.  When  night 
came  on  a  south  wind  set  the  sea  boiling  and  for 
twenty  hours  we  were  tossing  about  in  all  the  peril 
and  discomfort  of  a  storm  at  sea.  The  gigantic 
waves  rolled  about  our  frail  bark  and  every  now 
and  then  broke  over  our  bows,  scattering  its  large 


92  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

drops  over  the  whole  deck;  and  now  dipping  on 
one  side,  now  breaking  over  the  other,  there  was  a 
constant  washing  of  our  deck  in  about  three  inches 
of  water,  and  the  pump  had  to  be  worked  nearly 
half  the  time  to  keep  the  cargo  from  getting  wet. 

"In  the  early  part  of  the  storm  during  the  night 
of  the  25th,  sleep  was  impossible,  and  aware  of  the 
imminent  peril;  I  was  led  to  examine  my  immortal 
concerns  to  see  whether  I  was  in  full  readiness  for 
what  might  not  be  far  distant. 

"The  little  company  in  Matamoros  called  my 
mind  to  a  full  exercise  of  faith  to  leave  their  future 
in  the  hands  of  the  Father  of  all  our  tender  mer- 
cies, but  as  nearest  to  my  affections  by  thy  self- 
sacrificing  love,  I  longed  for  one  more  meeting  in 
this  vale  of  tears,  yet  even  in  this  I  felt  all  ties 
overcome  by  the  love  of  Jesus,  a  full  willingness  to 
leave  all  in  his  hands,  a  firm  belief  that  if  called  I 
should  feel  ready, 

"Soon  after  arising  in  the  morning  I  had  a  viol- 
ent attack  of  sea-sickness;  about  three  in  the  even- 
ing the  storm  abated,  I  had  partially  recovered 
from  seasickness.  A  perfect  calm  began  to  be 
felt  in  the  atmosphere,  a  school  of  some  fifty  por- 
poises began  to  play  around  our  sloop  enlivening 
us  by  their  antics  for  some  two  hours. 

"During  our  stay  in  Bagdad  my  cough  became 
much  less  and  since  we  left  there  has  disappeared. 
Oar  sea  voyage  is  evidently  beneficial." 

They  came  is  sight  of  the  light  house  of  Tampico 
at  9  p.  m.  of  the  28th.  and  at  midnight  crossed 
the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Panuco. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PUKDIE  93 

Thus  taking  six  full  days  in  the  run  from  Bag- 
dad. A  trip  frequently  sailed  in  forty-eight  hours. 
He  was  accompanied  on  this  journey  by  Calixto 
Lara  as  colporteur  and  having  a  large  supply  of 
books  and  tracts  with  them  while  his  chief  object 
was  restoration  of  his  health,  he  was  prepared  as 
usual  for  active  work  in  extending  the  gospel.  The 
day  they  left  Matamoros  a  native  helper  named 
Pedro  Trujillo,  of  the  Presbyterian  church  (north) 
left  Mexico  City  for  Tampico  and  reached  there 
five  days  before  they  did.  As  soon  as  a  place  of 
worship  was  procured  he  joined  Trujillo  in  open- 
ing meetings,  and  thus  his  whole  stay  in  the  city 
was  an  active  effort  to  aid  in  laying  the  foundation 
of  the  mission  since  sustained  in  that  port  by  the 
Associated  Reformed  Presbyterian  church. 

On  the  30th,  in  writing  to  his  mother  he  says: 
"CaHxtoand  myself  seeing  the  sloop  becalmed  and 
desirous  of  reaching  the  city  in  advance  of  our 
baggage,  came  by  land  six  miles  on  foot  yesterday 
morning  and  stopped  at  a  house  where  the  hill- 
side was  covered  with  pine  apples,  bananas  etc., 
and  asked  for  breakfast. 

"They  soon  made  portillas,  coffee,  and  fried 
some  beef  and  only  charged  twelve  and  one  half 
cents  for  the  both  of  us;  we  went  to  see  the  pine- 
apple plants  now  in  bloom.  The  country  here  is 
generally  rolling,  well  cultivated,  and  all  the  scen- 
ery is  in  full  vigor  of  the  torrid  zone.  We  have 
been  down  to  the  plaza  this  morning  and  find  that 
the  variety  of  its  fruits  and  vegetables  is  surpris- 
ing.    Animals  were  not  wanting,    I  was   offered  a 


94  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

young  jaguar  for  nine  dollars,  and  think  I  could 
<?et  him  for  five,  I  am  not  particularly  interested, 
in  the  caravan  line;  though  1  am  authorized  to  col- 
lect specimens  of  interest  for  the  museum  of  Earl- 
ham  College,  at  Richmond,  Indiana." 

But  few  whose  hfe  xyork  is  so  clear  before  them; 
and  who  strive  so  persistently  for  the  goal;  can 
discern  and  appreciate  all  the  finer  details  of  their 
surroundings,  and  draw  from  them  enjoyment,  and 
recreation  from  the  strain  of  constant  responsibil- 
ity that  is  upon  them.  Yet  we  find  him  ever  re- 
sponsive to  the  heart  throbs  of  nature  in  all  her 
various  moods  as  they  are  given  expression  in  the 
wonderous  forms  of  beauty  displayed  in  both  the 
vegetable  and  animal  kingdom.  His  vivid  descrip 
tion  of  those  tropic  scenes  written  to  the  "old  folks 
at  home"  in  midwinter  must  have  come  with  the 
warmth  of  a  beam  of  summer  sunshine. 

Writing  to  his  mother  January  18th,  1876,  he 
said  "Last  week  we  went  up  the  river  and  through 
the  lagoons  to  Tan  col,  half  way  to  Altamira.  The 
scenery  is  one  of  the  most  enticing  imaginable, 
yet  nature  has  evidently  got  the  upper  hand  and 
poor  frail  mankind  himself  unable  to  cope  with  her 
luxurance.  The  cultivated  fields  in  a  month's  care 
lessness,  become  dense  thickets  of  tall  weeds  tied 
together  by  gigantic  morning  glory  vines,  and  cov 
ered  with  dodder  and  a  hundred  other  parasites, 
where  wild  and  venemous  reptiles  can  hold  unlim* 
ited  sway.  The  path  cut  to-day  througli  the  thorny 
jungle,  in  a  week  is  lost  in  greenness  and  the  way 
closed  over  with  a  mat  of  fresh  vines 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  95 

"The  trees  are  covered  with  cactus,  mistletoe,  or 
chids  etc.,  while  their  strong  trunks  are  often  so 
tightly  bound  by  strong  woody  vines  that  they  die 
in  the  embrace  of  what  might  appear  to  be  a  much 
feebler  plant.  In  the  lagoons  we  were  moving 
through  what  appeared  to  be  acres  of  geese,  ducks, 
water  hens,  pelicans  and  flamingoes,  which  opened 
as  we  passed  along  and  gradually  close  in  behind 
us.  The  banks  in  places  lined  with  mangroves  in 
other  places  reeds,  rushes  and  bushes  covered 
with  beautiful  flowers  and  filled  with  orioles  and 
many  other  gay  songsters  unknown  to  our  north- 
ern regions.  All  was  life  and  animation,  beauty 
and  luxuriant  greenness.  The  lowlands  along  the 
Tamesi  abound  in  fields  of  plantains,  bananas,  man- 
gles, with  abundant  fields  of  corn,  beans,  pump- 
kins etc.,  yards  full  of  many  varieties  of  roses,  the 
houses  mostly  hid  in  a  dense  shade  of  mangles, 
but  often  consisting  of  a  roof  of  rushes  resting  up- 
on a  frame  of  poles.  They  must  be  cool  and  com- 
fortable in  summer,  but  at  this  season  the  expo- 
sore  to  nothers  produce  most  violent  colds  among 
most  of  the  natives.  "  When  at  Tancol  we  intend- 
ed to  go  to  Altamira  and  I  was  expecting  to  go  even 
farther,  but  a  norther  accompanied  by  constant 
rains  induced  us  to  return,  after  a  successful  effort 
to  combat  spiritualism,  and  a  considerable  distri 
bution  of  tracts  and  books.  A  few  days  after  we 
crossed  ovei  to  Pueblo  Viejo,  in  the  state  of  Vera 
Cruz,  where  the  distribution  was  even  greater. 
Pueblo  Viejo  was  founded  by  Cortez  in  1521  and  is 
probably  on  the  site  of  an  ancient  Aztec  city. 


96  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

"I  am  enjoying  quite  good  health.  All  symptoms 
of  asthma  seem  to  have  disappeared  since  I  left 
Bagdad.  The  voyage  was  beneticial.  So  far  as 
religious  services,  my  opportunities  have  been 
greater  than  I  could  have  anticipated  and  surpass 
any  other  journey  I  have  undertaken." 

Near  the  city  of  Tampico  are  the  ruins  of  sever- 
al cities,  pertaining  to  the  ancient  Huastic  King- 
dom, and  he  had  hoped  to  visit  them  and  collect 
some  of  the  interesting  specimens  of  antiquity 
which  abound  among  the  debris  of  their  ruined 
pyramids;  but  the  severe  weather  which  met  him 
at  Tancol  caused  him  to  abandon  the  attempt  for 
the  present  at  least.  In  his  Memoirs  he  wrote  "I 
had  especially  hoped  to  obtain  some  of  the  smal 
clay  idols  which  abound  in  these  ruins,  and  which 
are  so  thoroughly  burned  that  300  to  500  years  of 
exposure  to  the  moist  tropical  soil  and  the  shade 
of  tropical  vegetation  have  not  injured  them.  On 
my  return  to  Tampico  a  pious  Christian  lady  pre- 
sented me  with  one  of  these  idols  which  is  now  in 
the  cabinet  of  Earlham  College,  at  Richmond,  Indi- 
ana." They  are  found  in  the  places  of  interment 
which  were  orderly  in  their  arrangement  and  dec- 
oration. 

They  were  not  more  than  four  or  five  inches  in 
height  and  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  mas- 
sive stone  Idols  which  were  placed  on  the  summits 
of  their  pyramids.  Having  been  now  nearly  two 
months  from  home,  with  recruited  health  and  the 
satisfaction  of  accomplishing  considerable  in  the 
Lord's  service,  he  was  looking  towards  his  return. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PIJRDIE  97 

and  was  soon  hastened  by  rumors  of  revolution;  of 
which  he  wrote  as  follows: 

'*^Darkening  political  clouds  and  the  news  that 
Gen.  Perfiro  Diaz  who  had  escaped  from  the  coun- 
try, was  at  Brownsville,  Texas,  made  me  hasten 
home  at  once,  as  Matamoros  would  be  the  probable 
point  of  attack,  and  I  was  desirous  of  joining  my 
wife  and  little  church  in  the  hours  of  trial." 

He  took  passage  on  the  "Alba,"  a  schooner  of 
nineteen  tons  burden,  and  left  Tampico  on  the  19th 
of  2nd  month,  1876.  On  the  20th.  a  north  gale 
struck  them,  and  for  forty  hours  they  were  driven 
back  to  the  southward  until  near  Cape  Roxo  off 
Tuspan  harbor,  here  they  took  refuge  south  of  Lo- 
bos  Island  where  the  coral  reefs  permitted  them 
to  anchor  in  safety  until  the  storm  abated.  After 
nine^days  of  tempestous  weather  they  reached 
Bagdad  and  near  sunset  of  the  28th,  he  arrived 
at  home  and  found  Gulielma  in  good  health  and 
the  church  prospering  in  every  way.  With  re- 
newed health,  he  took  up  again  the  duties  of  the 
office  with  old  time  energy  and  enthusiasm. 


98  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  XII. 

REVOLUTION. 

"For  the  cause  that  needs  assistance, 
For  the  wrong  that  needs  resistance, 
For  the  future  in  the  distance, 
And  the  cause  of  God  and  man." 

The  threatening  political  clouds  did  not  delay  in 
gathering  and  on  the  second  of  Third  month,  only 
three  days  after  his  return,  Matamoros  was  de- 
clared to  be  in  a  state  of  siege,  and  no  one  was  a! 
lowed  to  leave  the  city  without  a  passport. 

Gen.  Diaz  was  at  Brownsville  and  gathering  his 
forces  on  the  border  a  few  miles  above.  The  gov- 
ernment forces  in  the  city  to  the  number  of  700 
infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery  with  the  city  troops 
or  National  Guard  consisting  of  1000  men  were 
strengthening  the  defenses  and  preparing  for  an 
attack. 

On  3rd  month,  31st  at  a  little  before  sunset  a  re- 
connoitering  force  of  150  men  headed  by  Gen.  Diaz 
made  a  feint  of  attack  and  filled  the  city  with  con- 
sternation, the  stores  being  closed  and  doors 
barred  awaiting  the  struggle.  After  taking  a  dis- 
tant view  of  the  earth- works  these  forces  retired 
and  order  was  restored;  the  stores  opened  again 
the  same  night  and  Saturday  4th  month  1st,  was 
passed  without  any  alarm,  the  foreign  residents 
had  not  been  warned  to  leave  the  city  and  it  was  ap- 


OP  SAMUEL  A.   PUKDIE  99 

parent  that  no  immediate  attack  was  expected^ 
Sabbath  morning,  4th  month  2nd,  was  a  beautiful 
sunny  morning,  all  was  quiet,  the  city  was  now 
void  of  fear.  At  evening,  however,  he  wrote  to  his 
parents  at  home:  "We  read  about  the  sun  standing 
still  on  Gibeah  and  the  moon  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon, 
but  today  the  wheels  of  time  became  clogged  and 
it  seems  as  though  in  the  distant  past  there  was  a. 
faint  recollection  of  the  time  when  last  the  sun  rose 
on  the  Heroic  city.  This  morning  we  arose  and  I 
had  returned  from  market  and  we  had  taken  break 
fast,  when  I  went  to  the  street  door  to  take  a  look 
at  those  passing,  but  saw  the  store  doors  flying  to 
in  a  hurry,  everybody  running  in  haste  and  a  cloud 
of  cavalry  pouring  down  the  street  full  half  a  mile 
away.  I  closed  the  door  and  called  the  family  to- 
gether and  after  a  moment's  reflection  we  conclud 
ed  that  the  brick  walls  of  the  printing  office  would 
be  better  than  the  wooden  house  we  occupied  and 
we  ran  over  there  and  closed  the  door,  leaving  our 
house  to  whatever  fate  might  befall  it.  Prom  the 
first  moment  of  our  leaving  the  house  the  discharge 
of  firearms  was  constant,  mingled  with  the  mosfc 
deafening  yells,  and  it  seemed  as  though  hundreds 
must  be  falling.  The  cries  "Viva  Porfirio  Diaz" 
showed  us  that  the  revolutionary  forces  had  enter- 
ed the  city  and  as  soon  as  thej-^  reached  the  plaza 
they  began  ringing  the  bells,  the  firing  ceased  and 
we  supposed  the  battle  was  over.  We  ran  through 
the  yard  home,  fearing  that  robbers  might  be  pil 
laging  the  house,  but  it  was  unmolested,  yet  w© 
had  hardly  entered  the  porch  and  opened  the  door 


100  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

■when  the  discharge  of  a  line  showed  us  the  strag- 
gling fire  had  now  changed  to  an  attack  in  line 
which  from  the  direction  was  evidently  the  powder 
magazine.  The  first  fire  of  the  line  was  followed 
by  a  loud  crack,  something  whistling  over  our 
heads,  and  not  wishing  to  risk  a  run  to  the  press 
room,  we  entered  our  rooms  taking  refuge  in  the 
bed  room,  placing  our  straw-tick  against  the  wall 
in  memory  of  Jackson's  cotton  bales.  Two  or 
three  fires  of  riflery  and  then  the  loud  peals  of 
artillery  for  nearly  an  hour  showed  the  effects  of 
grape  and  canister,  but  the  firing  ceased  and  again 
the  loud  wild  ring  of  bells  told  us  that  Matamoros 
was  capital  of  the  Constitutional  republic,  and 
Porfirio  Diaz  head  of  the  nation.  One  ball  struck 
our  house  passing  one  wall,  struck  the  other  and 
broke  the  glass  of  a  picture  and  a  splinter  flew 
over  our  heads  as  Guli,  Francisco,  Angehna  and 
Encarnacian  Aquilar,  stood  in  the  portico.  Tlie 
two  hours  of  battle  seemed  like  fifteen  years  and 
the  whole  day  seemed  proportionately  elongated. 
The  trial  of  nerves  was  exhausting,  more  so  from 
the  fear  and  shrieks  of  the  women,  of  which  I  had 
a  fair  share  in  care,  yet  to  the  honor  of  Gen.  Diaz 
be  it  said  that  not  a  single  robbery,  not  a  single  dis- 
order aside  from  the  attack  on  ihe  government 
troops  has  marked  the  siege  of  Matamoros.  Tlie 
property  of  individuals  has  been  scrupulously  re- 
spected and  withal  he  did  not  knowingly  permit 
any  shouting  of  Viva  Porfirio  Diaz."  In  two  hours 
order  was  restored,  and  a  few  bleeding  horses 
were  all  we  savr  of  bloodshed,  yet  some  six  of  the 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  101 

cavalry  fell  before  they  entered  the  city  and  about 
that  many  more  in  the  attack  at  the  magazine. 

"It  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition 
or  reality  that  the  people  were  desirous  of  being 
taken  rather  than  continue  under  the  arbitrary 
military  rule  of  the  government  administration. 
As  the  fear  naturally  prevents  one  from  going  out 
we  cannot  as  yet  give  full  particulars,  we  are  too 
tired  and  exhausted  to  be  able  to  write  much.  Our 
work  has  been  interrupted  by  the  fears  of  the  peo- 
ple for  the  past  two  weeks,  but  now  the  worst  is 
probably  over  and  we  shall  see  a  time  of  compara- 
tive rest."  The  revolution  will  continue  in  other 
parts  of  the  country  until  Diaz  becomes  chief  of  the 
forces  and  the  Lerd  de  Tejada  ceases  to  be  presi- 
dent. 

"It  is  now  half- past  nine  and  the  streets  are  quiet 
and  after  so  tiresome  a  day  we  feel  like  trying  to 
rest.  'Great  cry  and  little  wool,'  half  an  hour  of 
riflery,  and  an  hour  and  one-half  of  cannonading 
and  twelve  killed  and  about  that  many  wounded 
was  all  we  had  to  notice.  Leaving  a  small  garri- 
son to  guard  the  city,  Gen.  Diaz  took  most  of  his 
force  and  moved  forward  to  Monterey,  to  intending 
sweep  in  the  country  southward  and  complete  his 
conquest  of  the  nation. " 

One  of  their  members  was  seized  by  the  revolu- 
tionary force  and  taken  with  them  when  they  left 
the  city.  Their  members  generally  escaped  by 
avoiding  the  streets,  keeping  indoors;  their  printer 
staid  with  them  two  nights  before  the  army  left. 
So  through  this  trying  ordeal  they  realized  some 


102  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

of  the  perils  of  war  without  feeling  very  much  of 
its  suffering.  People  of  a  more  fearful  nature  and 
less  consecration  to  the  work  might  have  fled  from 
the  field  and  left  the  flock  to  be  harrassed  by  their 
enemy  uncared  for. 

His  folks  at  the  north  had  suggested  to  him  that 
they  might  live  in  Brownsville  for  a  time,  and  so 
on  4th  mo.  30,  we  find  him  writing  to  his  mother 
these  lines: — "We  read  of  a  certain  class  of  shep- 
herds who  flee  when  the  wolf  cometh  and  the  sheep 
are  scattered  abroad.  There  never  was  an  hour 
when  our  constant  presence  and  diligent  labor  was 
so  imperatively  necessary.  Friends  in  Indiana  at 
first  supposed  we  would  leave  the  field  temporarily, 
but  they  did  not  know  what  timber  their  mission- 
aries are  made  of.  They  are  now  very  glad  we 
did  not  neglectthe  work.  I  think  there  will  be  no 
farther  interruption  here. " 

The  opposing  forces  had  a  battle  at  Hiscimolo, 
near  Monterey,  at  which  it  was  said  180  were  killed, 
no  others  of  much  importance  occurred  in  northern 
Tamaulipas.  A  little  later  a  government  force  un- 
der Escabedo  entered  Matamoros  with  about  2500 
men  and  four  large  brass  field- pieces;  to  guard  the 
city  from  the  attacks  of  guerrilla  bands  from  the 
outside  to  which  they  were  liable  at  any  time,  but 
no  serious  disturbances  occurred  during  the  sea- 
son. Gen.  Diaz  had  left  so  httle  force  that  they 
made  no  resistance  but  gave  the  city  again  into  the 
hands  of  the  government. 

There  were  no  mails  or  commerce  with  the  in> 
terior,  all  business  was  at  a  stand  still,  the  city 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  103 

was  practically  in  a  state  of  siege,  while  the  bands 
outside  were  not  strong  enough  to  force  an  en- 
trance to  the  city,  they  occasionally  made  feint  at- 
tacks at  the  gates,  and  the  forces  inside  were  too 
weak  to  follow  them  over  the  cactus  covered  plains 
surrounding  the  city. 

As  summer  passed  the  conflicts  rather  increased, 
so  that  on  9th  mo.  20th,  he  wrote  to  his  parents, 
"The  war  continueswith  increasing  misery  and 
barbarity.  The  burning  of  the  ranches  around  the 
city  was  one  of  the  most  horrid  sights  I  ever  wit- 
nessed and  gave  me  some  idea  of  what  war  is;  I 
counted  the  fl'^raes  of  nine  ranches  in  all,  some 
thirty  houses  burning  at  one  time  under  guard  of 
cavalry,  in  full  view  of  the  western  wall  of  the  city. 
We  have  had  several  battles  during  the  past  month, 
but  none  of  great  consequence. "  Though  the  gov- 
ernment troops  still  kept  possession  of  Matamoros 
and  Tampico  the  rest  of  Tamaulipas  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  Diaz  party.  The  mail  lines  were  sus- 
pended in  must  of  the  republic  and  a  state  of  the 
most  complete  political  chaos  seemed  to  exist  ev- 
erywhere. Thus  things  continued  until  near  the 
close  of  1876,  for  on  the  14th  of  12th  month  Samuel 
wrote  to  his  mother,  "Last  seventh  day  night  was 
to  us  a  very  trying  occasion,  for  besides  the  damp 
and  cold  of  the  night,  the  wood  was  minus,  none 
had  been  on  sale  for  several  days,  when  a  httle 
past  midnight  the  outsiders  gave  a  desperate 
charge  on  the  Monterey  entrance,  which  you  may 
remember  is  on  our  street.  A  close  fire  was  send- 
ing its  spent  balls  over  and  around  us,   we  heard 


104  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

three  or  four  strike  before  we  got  out  of  bed,  and 
then  could  make  no  more  fire.  The  fireing  kept 
up  until  day.  It  is  said  that  the  outside  forcer 
mounted  the  earth  works  and  at  one  time  had  a  16 
]X)under  in  their  possession,  but  the  inside  forces 
concentrated  and  drove  them  back.  The  rally  of 
the  inside  troops  brought  them  within  about  four 
squares  of  us.  "Several  of  our  members  had  nar- 
row escapes  from  the  deadly  missives.  We  were 
kept  in  tranquility,  yet  the  exposure  brought  on  a 
severe  cold  and  cough  which  confined  me  to  bed 
for  two  days  and  from  which  I  have  not  as  yet  ful- 
ly recovered.  Last  night  there  was  severe  fight- 
ing at  San  Fernando  entrance.  Our  only  peril  is 
from  the  minnie  balls  which  being  fired  at  the  ele- 
vated earth-works  fall  in  the  city  when  their  force 
is  spent.  Few  reach  as  far  as  our  rooms,  thus  far 
but  one  has  been  picked  up  in  our  yard  during  two 
months  of  almost  constant  fighting.  Yet  many 
pass  over  us  and  still  have  force  to  pass  through 
three  inch  planking,  we  generally  seek  four  inch  of 
planking  during  attacks.  We  are  certainly  tired 
of  such  a  long  siege  and  long  for  a  change  for  the 
better." 

After  his  defeat  at  Hiscimole,  Gen.  Diaz  went 
southward  and  by  a  series  of  unexpected  victories 
he  soon  took  the  capitol,  alnd  the  surrounding  pro- 
vinces all  surrendered  to  him,  so  Matamoros  stood 
alone;  Gen.  Cortina  having  declared  for  Diaz  on 
2nd  month,  19th,  1877  he  entered  the  city  in 
triumph,  the  forces  within  having  decided  to  sur- 
render whithout  further  struggle,  and  therefore 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  105 

received  him  peacefully  and  it  was  to  the  people  a 
general  time  of  rejoicing  as  the  coming  of  peace 
for  which  they  had  long  been  wishing. 

With  the  restoration  of  Peace  the  mails  'were 
soon  reestablished  throughout  the  country,  their 
books  were  again  called  for,  their  meetings  better 
attended,  their  mission  work  revived,  and  the  out- 
look for  the  future  took  on  a  most  cheerful  aspect, 
for  which  they  could  but  thank  God  and  take  cour- 
age. 

The  following  touching  incident  in  connection 
with  the  occupation  of  the  city  by  Gen.  Cortina  will 
prove  of  interest  to  our  readers. 

One  of  their  members  who  had  been  an  intimate 
friend  and  partisan  of  Gen.  Cortina  having  moved 
with  his  wife  and  little  son  to  Brownsville  and 
started  a  small  grocery  there  whose  name  was 
Castulo  Sala  determined  to  cross  over  the  river 
above  Matamoros  and  accompany  his  old  friend  in 
the  hour  of  triumph  and  enter  the  city  on  horse- 
back but  unarmed  in  company  with  the  army.  Af- 
ter the  entry  of  Gen.  Cortina  a  small  bounty  was 
distributed  to  the  troops  and  they  prepared  for  a 
big  drunk  to  celebrate  their  victory;  many  of  the 
government  troops  got  worse  for  liquor  in  half  a 
day.  In  his  memoirs  of  Aquilar,  Samuel  made 
mention  of  the  occasion  as  follows:  "Early  at 
night  we  closed  our  doors  for  groups  of  drunken 
soldiers  mostly  of  Cortina  men  were  at  the  street 
corners  near  our  house  still  purchasing  liquor  and 
increasing  the  roar.  Just  after  dark  we  heard 
terrible  shrieks  at  one  of  the  grog-shops,  or  rather 


106  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

a  store  with  a  bar  on  the  front  of  the  counter,  as  is 
usual  in  groceries  in  Mexico,  and  then  followed  the 
shrill  whistle  of  the  police  telling  us  that  some- 
thing had  happened,  yet  we  thought  prudence  the 
better  part  of  valor,  especially  when  dealing  with 
drunkards  and  kept  our  house  closed  until  after 
day  dawned  the  next  morning.  Just  after  break- 
fast one  of  our  members  brought  in  a  paper  with 
the  police  report  for  the  previous  day  and  we  saw 
that  Castula  Sala  had  been  struck  down  by  the 
drunken  crowd,  one  of  his  own  party  having  struck 
Mm  on  the  head  with  the  breech  of  his  gun,  bury- 
ing the  lock  in  his  brain.  A  messenger  soon  call- 
ed us  to  the  bedside  of  the  dying  man  who  was  en- 
tirely unconscious,  although  he  lingered  most  of 
that  day;  Gen.  Cortina  offered  to  bear  the  expense 
of  the  funeral,  but  the  desire  of  his  wife,  and  there 
being  no  proof  of  his  being  in  anyway  culpable,  in- 
duced us  to  take  charge  of  the  interment. 

"This  funeral  was  one  of  the  most  impressive  I 
was  ever  permitted  to  attend,  and  never  did  I  feel 
greater  freedom  and  boldness  to  show  how  the 
mangled  corpse  of  our  brother  warned  us  to  avoid 
evil  associations  and  yielding  to  temptations.  The 
open  doors  were  however  crowded  with  roughs  and 
quite  a  number  of  the  associates  of  Contina  were 
seated  in  the  room." 


Jl 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  107 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PEACE  AND  PROSPERITY. 

"For  all  human  ties  that  bind  me, 
For  the  task,  by  God,  assigned  me 

For  the  bright  hopes  left  behind  me, 
And  the  good  that  I  can  do."     Banks. 

During  aU  those  dark  days  of  war  and  siege  and 
turmoil,  the  work  of  the  mission  was  well  sustain- 
ed    The  school  under  the   care   of  Angelita  was 
increasing  in  interest  and  attendance  with    the 
return  of  peace,  some    of  their    members  who  had 
ied  to  Brownsville  came  back,  the    meetings  were 
better  attended,  the  interest    in  them  was  mcreas- 
ed  by  the  musical  gifts  of   Angelita   Aquilar,    the 
teacher,  and  also  by  that  of  their    printer,  Luciano 
Mascorro,onceaweekthe    school  children    were 
gathered  for  an    hour  and    trained  in    smgmg  and 
learning  new  hymns,  and  thus  many  gospel  truths 
were  sown  in  these  young  hearts,  which  may  have 
borne  a  rich  harvest  in    the  years  which  followed. 
Some  of  the  parents  of  their    pupils,  whose   hves 
were  very  ungodly,  were   very    friendly    to  their 
work     Protestantism  had    become    popular    and 
many  who  had  no  use  for  priests    began    extolling 
Protestantism,    thinking   it  a  free  road  to  heaven. 
In  his  memcdrs  he  relates  the  following  remarkable 
incident  in  their    experience:    "We    had    in   our 
school  the  children  of  two  noted  bandits  and  high 


108  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

waymen,  one  of  whom  had  been  shot  as  an  out-law 
whilst  the  other  was  an  officer  in  the  army  of  Gen. 
Cortina,  known  better  as  the  border  ruffian  'EI 
Tejon'  (The  badger)  a  corpulent  and  daring  fellow. 
He  met  me  one  day,  praised  our  school,  and  said 
he  wanted  to  join  our  society  as  he  admired  the 
changed  life  of  some  of  our  members  with  whom 
he  was  acquainted.  He  reminded  me  of  a  man  who 
was  condemned  to  death  in  Greensboro,  N.  C, 
some  years  ago  and  whom  I  visited  two  days  be- 
fore his  execution.  Speaking  of  the  visits  of  sev- 
eral of  our  ministers  to  his  cell  after  his  sentence, 
he  said  to  me,  'I  have  always  leaned  toward  your 
Society,  when  stopping  himself,  he  resumed;  'No, 
I  have  always  leaned  toward  destruction,  but  I  al- 
ways thought  that  you  were  right.'  This  bandit 
could  not  help  but  realize  that  he  was  hastening 
toward  destruction,  but  he  was  persuaded  that 
Protestantism  taught  the  way  of  life.  'One  morn- 
just  after  school  opened,  his  daughter  was  sent  for 
in  haste,  with  word  that  her  father  was  dying. 
The  circumstances  of  his  death  caused  a  deep  im- 
pression on  the  class  to  which  he  belonged,  and 
even  they  looked  upon  it  as  a  direct  judgment  from 
God.  'He  was  intoxicated  and  drove  along  on 
horseback  and  was  just  passing  the  house  of  a  wo- 
man of  bad  character,  and  stopping  his  horse,  be- 
gan speaking  to  her,  when  taking  his  revolver  from 
his  belt,  he  tired  at  her.  At  the  instant  she  held 
both  hands  aloft  in  surprise,  when  he  discharged 
his  pistol  the  ball  passed  through  her  hand,  and 
striking  the  brick  wall  of  the    house,    in    the    re- 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PUKDIE  109 

bound,  struck  him  in  the  breast,  and  being  imbed- 
ed  near  the  heart,  caused  death  almost  instantly. 
It  was  evidently  no  chance  work,  and  Christian 
and  infidel  were  alike  awed  by  so  unlocked  for  a 
termination  of  the  life  of  'El  Tejon. '  How  a  ball 
should  have  struck  so  as  to  return  like  a  boome- 
rang and  with  sufficient  force  to  cause  a  mortal 
wound,  and  thus  kill  the  one  who  fired  it,  is  yet  a 
mystery,  but  the  fact  itself  was  so  evident  that  the 
judge  had  no  difficulty  in  declaring  that  it  was  a 
case  of  accidental  suicide." 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  Presbyterian 
mission  there  in  the  city  under  the  care  of  Gray- 
bill  with  whom  they  were  intimate.  This  summer 
of  1877  was  one  of  unusual  prosperity  in  the  schools 
and  almost  every  month  new  members  were  added 
to  their  meeting,  some  from  a  decided  preference 
for  their  tenets,  others  because  they  first  received 
Christ  through  the  ministry  of  the  Friends. 

One  of  the  former  class,  father  of  a  numerous 
family,  had  been  a  very  wicked  man,  but  his  con- 
version was  real  and  he  became  a  piller  in  the 
church.  The  Mexican  converts  evinced  great  in- 
dependence of  thought,  carefully  studying  the 
Scriptures  with  desires  to  know  the  truth,  and  to 
receive  it  from  Christ  alone  and  very  unwilling 
that  anything  should  hinder  their  doing  the  will  of 
the  Master.  "  Casting  aside  the  dogma  of  Papal 
infallibility,  they  rest  less  on  the  opinion  of  others 
than  most  Christians  in  a  land  where  Romanism 
Dever  held  sway." 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1877  the  school  chang- 


no  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

ed  hands,  for  Angeliia  was  arranging  for  her  mar 
riage  and  could  not  much  longer    retain  her    posi 
fcion.     "A  family    which  had    been  very    useful  ia 
aiding  us  to  acquire  language    on  our  arrival,    had 
afterwards  returned  to    Monterey  and  from  there 
to  Lampasas,  where  the  four  daughters  had  charge 
of  the  public  school  for  about  two  years.     Return 
ingto  Carmagro,  on  the  Rio  Grando,  they  wrote  to 
us  offering  to  furnish  a    teacher,  and    a  month  be- 
fore Christmas   Emilia  Flores    took  charge  of  the 
school,  and  her  three    sisters  assisted  in  the  com- 
posing room  and  the  folding    and  stitching  depart 
raent,  as  our  books  had  become  numerous  and  the 
circulation  over    all    Spanish    America    required 
greater  activitj'^  in  the  publishing  department." 

Thus  the  mission  work  was  being  carried  vigor 
ously    forward,  and  the    local  church    growing  ia 
power  and  influence. 

Early  in  the  year  187S  occurred  the  death  of  Pe 
dro  Gonzalez,  who,  though  not  a  member,  had  long 
read  their  publications,  and  often    in  his  sickness, 
sent  for  them  who  would    read  the  scriptures  and. 
sing  hymns  by  his  bedside,  much  to  his  satisfaction. 

In  his  Memoirs  Samuel  wrote:  "I  must  not 
omit  to  mention  our  first  acquaintance  with  this 
person  and  the  permanent  fruit  which  grew  out  of 
it.  In  one  room  of  his  house  was  a  cigarette  fac 
tory  with  five  operatives,  and  the  old  gentleman, 
was  usually  seen  sitting  in  the  doorway.  On  one 
occasion  as  M.  M.  Binford  was  passing  along,  dis- 
tributing tracts,  he  accosted  Pedro  and  offered, 
him  one.     A  conversation  ensued  and  Micajah  was 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  111 

invited  to  enter,  and  gave  tracts  to  all  workmen 
but  one,  this  one  was  a  son  in-law  of  Pedro  and  was 
so  fearful  of  being  contaminated  with  heresy  that 
he  dared  not  even  look  up  to  see  the  heretic,  The 
tracts  were  read  and  commented  upon  and  on  the 
next  visit  this  young  man  secretly  wished  for  a 
tract,  but  did  not  dare  ask  for  it.  Soon  after,  he 
began  att^juling  our  meetings  ar.d  is  now  one  of 
our  most  .-successful  revivalists,  and  endued  with 
a  large  sl,:nv  of  spiritual  discei'iuncnt.  His  name 
is  Franci.-s'  <>  Pena." 

In  March.  Angela  Aquilar  wa.s  united  in  marri- 
age to  Luciano  Marct)rro.  Few  countries  take 
greater  care  iu  regard  to  marriage  than  Mexico, 
and  the  laws  render  clandestine  marriages  impos- 
sible. The  parties  go  before  the  civil  judge  with 
two  male  witnesses  for  each  party  of  good  charac- 
ter and  residents  of  the  town  where  the  marriage 
is  to  take  place.  The  name  and  consent  of  parents 
and  the  names  of  the  grandparents  as  well  as  the 
residence  of  all  their  ancestors,  and  at  their  re- 
quest a  formal  declaration  of  their  intention  with 
proper  credentials  is  issued  and  copies  are  posted 
in  public  places  for  two  weeks  at  least  before  the 
marriage  is  consummated  by  the  judge. 

In  Mexican  law,  marriage  is  a  union  for  life,  no 
divorce  being  granted,  and  though  a  temporary 
separation  may  be  legally  arranged  in  case  of 
adultery,  yet  even  then  neither  party  is  free  to  con 
tract  matrimony,  and  the  law  hopes  even  in  these 
cases  for  an  ultimate  reconciliation  and  reunion  of 
the  parties. 


112  LIFE  AND  I^TTERS 

"The  civil  power  does  not  prohibit  but  rather 
encourages  the  parties  to  ratify  their  marriages 
before  their  respective  churches."  The  Protest- 
ant churches  uniformerly  require  that  the  parties 
present  proof  by  their  witnesses  of  having  com- 
plied with  the  laws,  the  solemnization  taking  place 
immediately  after  the  civil  marriage  has  been  per- 
formed. Thus  Lucian  and  Angela  accompanied  by 
their  witnesses,  arrived  from  the  office  of  the  civil 
magistrate  and  entered  the  meeting  already  gath- 
ered for  the  occasion  and  ratified  before  the  assem- 
bled church  that  act  which  had  just  been  sanction- 
ed before  the  legal  authority. 

Luciano  and  his  wife  were  both  of  them  earnest 
and  enthusiastic  in  christian  service,  their  zeal  in 
the  work  did  much  to  strengthen  the  church. 

About  a  month  later  in  the  spring  time,  there  ap- 
peared at  the  mission  a  very  pleasant  fisherman 
from  Reynosa  whose  name  was  Julio  Gonzalez  Gea. 

He  began  attending  their  meeting  regularly,  and 
two  months  later  he  was  admitted  a  member  as 
were  also  his  children  at  his  request.  He  took 
great  interest  in  their  meetings  and  his  children 
began  attending  the  school,  except  his  eldest  daugh- 
ter, who  was  his  housekeeper.  He  was  soon  after 
appointed  secretary  of  their  business  meeting,  and 
thus  was  present  at  the  public  recognition  of  Lu- 
ciano Mascoro  as  minister  of  the  Gospel  in  the  So- 
ciety which  took  place  at  the  close  of  their  public 
meeting  for  worship  in  the  afternoon  at  9th  month 
12th,  1879.  Soon  after  this  at  the  close  of  the 
evening  meeting,  a  man  from  Jemenez,  about  180 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  IIJ^ 

miles  south  of  them,  expressed  a  desire  to  become 
a  member  of  the  society.  This  was  the  first  case 
of  receiving  a  non-resident  member  to  the  meet- 
ing, but  he  has  been  quite  useful  in  the  work  and 
is  a  staple  Christian. 


114  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

JANUARY   AND   JUNE 

"If  men  cared  less  for  wealth  and  fame, 
And  less  for  battle  fields  and  g'lory; 
If  writ  in  human  heai'ts  a  name 
Seemed  better  than  in  song  and  story. 
If  men  when  Wrong^  beats  di'vn  the  Right, 
Would  strike  together  to  restore  it; 
If  Right  made  Might,  in  every  light 
The  woi'ld  would  be  the  better  for  it." 

On  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  with  its  fog  and  mist  the 
winter  with  its  rain  and  cold  northers  was  always 
an  unpleasant  season  and  the  winter  of  '77  and  78 
seems  to  have  struck  them  with  uncommon  rigor. 

His  letters  home  were  usually  cheerful  and  op- 
timistic at  all  seasons.  But  one  written  at  this  time 
is  so  full  of  pathetic  detail  that  we  give  it  almost 
entire  for  the  perusal  of  our  readers.  Under  date 
of  1st  mo.  5th,  lb78  he  wrote:  "Dear  mother:  Thy 
kind  lettercame  to  hand  a  few  days  ago,  but  we  hav« 
had  such  terrible  weather  that  I  could  not  write 
weU  sooner.  You  may  talk  about  spending  winters 
in  a  warm  climate,  but  I  can  assure  our  northern 
people  that  we  suffer  more  from  cold  here  than  in 
New  York. 

"  My  writing  table  is  six  feet  from  a  parlor  stove 
and  .vet  I  have  hardly  been  able  to  write  five  min- 
uets for  a  week  past,  can't  get  six  feet  from  the 
stove  without  suffering  from  the  cold.     I  have  on 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  115 

woolen  pants  with  two  pairs  of  drawers  under 
them,  two  pairs  of  stockings,  four  shirts  and  one 
cotton  pad  and  woolen  nubia  under  my  vest  besides 
a  good  broadcloth  coat  outside,  and  yet  I  can't  ven- 
ture out  far  without  a  shawl.  None  but  those  who 
have  seen  it  can  form  any  idea  of  the  influence  of 
such  long  continued  heat  on  the  system,  our  cold 
days  are  few  in  number,  but  so  sudden,  so  damp 
that  even  under  roofs  the  dampness  enters  every- 
where, thin  watery  mud  below  the  dripping  eaves 
and  the  abundant  ventilation  of  all  house  here 
makes  all  attempts  to  warm  large  rooms  utterly 
unavailing.  The  water  seems  to  enter  the  meat 
and  one  is  in  Spanish  praise.'  'Wet  to  the  bones.' 
The  joints  crack  painfully  as  one  moves  and  to  keep 
dry  is  impossible,  because  the  air  seems  Hke  a 
sponge  so  full  as  to  give  and  take  with  surprising 
freedom.  Gulielma  says  she  is  so  cold  she  can 
not  write,  when  we  have  a  warm  day  she  will  try 
to  write.  We  have  had  11  days  of  drizzhng  weath- 
er with  the  thermometer  from  36  to  40  degrees  of 
Pehrenheit.  This  kind  of  rain  is  called  plumilla 
or 'feathers' because  it  flies  about  in  the  air  like 
snow  and  enters  everywhere.  Winter  here  is  a 
general  stop  to  everything,  a  mixture  of  mud  and 
water,  mud  and  water,  mud,  mud.  6th,  ice  i  of  an 
inch  thick  this  morning." 

Gloomy  as  this  picture  looks  we  must  remember 
that  it  was  only  for  a  few  days,  or  at  the  most 
weeks,  in  the  year,  while  it  was  not  uncommon  for 
his  people  at  the  north  to  have  three  or  four  months 
of  continuous  sleighing. 


116  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

The  summer  was  a  busy  one  in  the  printing 
office.  In  June  he  received  from  the  north  a  ster- 
eotype outfit,  which  he  intended  to  use  first  on  a 
life  of  Wm.  Penn  which  he  had  in  progress,  but 
was  waiting  the  arrival  of  some  new  type  for  its 
composition. 

He  speaks  of  printing  a  grammar  for  common 
scho<ils,  also  a  pamphlet  for  Spaniards  to  learn 
English;  he  also  mentions  that  they  stereotyped  a 
small  mental  arithmetic  for  schools,  as  well  as 
made  plates  of  plants  and  animals  to  use  in  the 
papers.  Attending  to  all  the  details  of  these  var- 
ious branches  of  the  publishing  business  in  addi- 
tion to  all  the  translating  and  editing  of  his  num- 
erous books  and  papers  must  have  made  his  life  a 
strenuous  one. 

Pew  have  the  wonderful  versatility  of  gifts  which 
he  possessed,  and  at  the  same  time  the  ability  to 
concentrate  his  whole  power  on  the  task  before 
him.  He  writes  to  his  sister  of  having  to  use  many 
big  books  and  goes  on  to  name  five  large  diction- 
aries in  English,  Spanish,  Greek  and  Latin  and 
seven  histories  of  Mexico,  some  of  them  in  several 
volumes,  also  a  history  of  Popes  and  Kings,  The 
Races  of  Men,  Milton  Paradise  Lost,  all  in  Spanish, 
Bibles  in  seven  laiguages,  and  some  books  in  Por- 
tugese which  he  would  read  quite  readily  as  it  is 
very  similar  to  Spanish. 

Along  in  midsummer  yellow  fever  broke  out  in 
New  Orleans  and  other  places  along  the  gulf;  it 
had  not  developed  at  Mat^moros,  but  Brownsville 
shut  her  do(jrs  against  them  and  about  the  first  of 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  117 

September  they  established  a  general  quarantine 
which  continued  for  a  month.  There  were  prob- 
ably a  few  mild  cases  in  the  city  but  they  were 
so  covered  that  it  was  not  generally  known  that 
there  were  any  and  no  panic  arose  among  the  peo- 
ple still  many  of  the  wealthy  left  the  city  for  the 
highlands  back  from  the  Gulf  where  it  never 
reaches  as  it  is  said  two  hundred  feet  of  elevation 
from  the  sea  shuts  it  out  entirely. 

"  Friends  are  somewhat  alarmed  about  ou r  safety 
and  not  altogether  without  cause,  yet  we  trust  in 
the  care  of  Him  who  calleth  us.  Those  who  have 
thought  we  were  hirelings,  if  any  such  there  be, 
may  see  that  we  have  never  yet  left  the  flock, 
neither  seige  nor  pestilence.  Do  not  be  anxious 
about  us,  all  will  be  well,  and  I  feel  that  my  work 
is  not  yet  done,  yet  if  God  disposes  otherwise  we 
must  say,  thy  will  be  done." 

The  nearest  place  at  which  yellow  fever  was 
epidemic  was  at  San  Fernando.  Ere  they  were 
aware  of  this  Luciano  had  gone  on  a  visit  there, 
finding  the  fever  there  before  him  he  soon  return- 
ed and  was  himself  stricken  with  the  fever  but 
passed  through  it  successfully.  So  through  a 
season  of  trial  and  danger  they  once  more  emerged 
in  safety,  while  cheering  and  guarding  the  flock. 

While  teaching  at  Centre,  N.  C,  he  frequently 
enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  the  home  of  Lewis  Rey- 
nolds several  of  whose  numerous  children  were 
among  his  pupils. 

An  older  brother,  Perrin,  about  his  age,  became 
his  intimate  friend  and  during  all  his  stay  in  North 


118  life:and  letters 

Carolina  they  were  frequently  together  either  for 
social  recreation,  or  in  their  Master's  service. 

In  November  he  wrote  Perrin  a  letter,  which  is 
such  a  graphic  summary  of  his  experience,  his 
dangers  and  narrow  escapes  of  the  seven  years 
since  they  parted  that  we  give  it  to  the  reader 
almost  entire. 

"Dear  Friend: — It  is  now  a  long  time  since 
I  had  any  letter  from  thee.  I  had  supposed  thou 
was  at  Centre,  preaching  away  to  that  dear  circle  of 
Friends  which  live  yet  in  my  memory  as  fresh  as 
if  but  scenes  of  yesterday.  By  looking  over  the 
'Book  of  Meetings'  I  find  thy  address  is  Eagle  Mills, 
up  the  Deer  Creek  region.  It  is  over  seven  years 
since  I  was  at  Centre.  I  recollect  telling  thee  that 
nothing  was  more  remote  from  my  thoughts  than 
establishing  a  meeting  of  Friends  in  Mexico,  yet 
over  eighty  members  now  form  the  interesting 
circle  at  Matamoras,  with  one  recognized  minister 
besides  myself. 

I  have  seen  strange  sights  since  we  last  em- 
braced each  other,  though  the  printing  work  has 
kept  me  very  closely  occupied  here  in  this  city. 
Traveling  in  Mexico  is  very  expensive  and  even 
perilous.  I  visited  Victoria  in  1873,  Tampico  in 
1875  when  I  came  near  being  shipwrecked  off  Cape 
Roxo  near  Tuspan  harbor.  I  visited  San  Fernando 
last  year  and  have  several  times  visited  the  towns 
along  the  Rio  Grande  on  both  sides  of  the  river  for 
over  one  hundred  miles  from  here.  Last  year  we 
spent  a  week  bathing  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.    I  had 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  119 

several    narrow  escapes  from  assassination  and 
been  through  two  sieges  and  one  storming  of  our 
city  with  close  range  of  artillery  inside  the  city. 
This  is  memorable  in  Mexican  history  as  the  first 
battle  of  the  revolution  which  placed  Porfirio  Diaz 
in  the  presidential  chair.     He  rode  through  our 
city  that  day  in  triumph  and  published  the  hopes 
of  the  people  after  an  unconditional  surrender.     A 
ball  passed  through  one  of  our  rooms  and  threw 
splinters  over  our  heads.     Still  later  in  the  year  a 
ball  barely  missed  all  of  us  as  we  sat  around  the 
stove,  striking  over  one  end  of  the  table  where  I 
was  writing.     One  hurricane  blew  down  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  houses  since  we  were  here,  and  we 
can  now  boast  of  having  lived  in  Matamoros  'be- 
fore the  flood,'  which  kept  one  sixth  of  the  city 
under  water  for  several  weeks.     Small  pox    has 
paid  two  family  visits  to  our  city,  measles  one  gen- 
eral visit.     I  had  one  attack  of  inflammation  of  the 
the  lungs,  two  of  asthma  and  one  terrible  attack  of 
malarial  fever,  yet  our  general  health  has  been 
good.     A  giant  wave  of  yellow  fever  seems  now  to 
threaten  our  city  and  we  can  only  trust  in  him  who 
has  watched  over  us  for  these  long  years.     There 
are  precious  promises  that  fill  our  hearts  with 
cheer  in  all  these  provings.      Luciano  Mascorro 
while  on  a  visit  as  Minister  of  the  Gospel  became 
exposed  to  the  fever  and  has  been  sick  for  several 
days  but  is  now  on  the  mend. 

Now  dear  brother  please  remember  me  in  love 
to  Friends  at  Deep  Creek  where  I  made  one  of  my 
last  visits  ere  leaving  my  native  land.     Those  dear 


120  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

friends  are  still  very  dear  to  my  soul  and  I  often 
remember  them  in  prayer  to  God.  I  would  love  to 
repeat  the  visit,  but  perhaps  God  will  leave  my 
part  in  that  work  to  thee  Be  faithful  and  God 
will  make  thee  useful.  I  feared  I  had  nearly  for- 
gotten my  native  language,  but  in  this  brief  epistle 
I  have  been  refreshed  in  my  recollection  of  the 
grammar  of  the  most  heterogeneous  of  languages. 

Please  receive  a  genuine  Spanish  hug  from  thy 

Well  Wishing  Friend, 

Samuel  A.  Purdie." 

Many  of  these  experiences  have  been  described 
on  preceeding  pages,  but  the  loss  of  some  of  his 
letters  has  at  times  broken  the  thread  of  our 
narrative. 

In  his  Memoirs  he  speaks  of  a  journey  to  Gomez 
Farias  early  in  1879  making  copious  extracts 
from  his  diary  kept  on  the  journey;  and  from 
these  may  be  drawn  some  of  the  leading  facts 
and  incidents  of  the  trip. 

"This  winter  was  an  interesting  time  in  our  mis- 
sion, as  it  was  characterized  by  events  which  to  a 
certain  extent  exercised  a  notable  influence  on  the 
whole  work.  Early  in  January  as  I  was  busy  in 
the  press  room  B . .  . .  S  ...  of  San  Fernando  en- 
tered and  told  me  that  I  could  have  a  seat  in  his 
carriage  as  far  as  that  village.  He  was  desirous 
that  I  should  go  to  Gomez  Farias  and  see  his  uncle 
Father  Lozano,  whose  movement  was  undeniably 
the  first  effort  to  introduce  a  religious  reformation 
ittto  Mexico.  I  accepted  his  offer  and  we  started 
the  same  evening,  leaving  Matamoros  at  4  P.  M. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  121 

the  14th  of  January  1879,  and  reached  San  Fernan- 
do at  noon  of  the  17th  and  were  warmly  received 
by  old  acquaintances." 

Tlie  weather  being  cold  and  damp  he  did  not 
feel  like  going  out  very  much,  still  he  visited  in 
some  of  the  families  and  received  many  calls  from 
individuals  who  wished  to  talk  with  him  on  relig- 
ious subjects  or  buy  books  or  tracts  and  thus 
found  quite  a  field  for  service  during  his  stay 
which  lasted  until  the  21st  when  having  secured  a 
guide  and  two  saddle  horses  he  left  for  Jimenez; 
camping  out  by  the  way,  we  get  some  glimpses  of 
his  natural  tastes  and  especially  his  ardent  love  of 
astronomy  to  which  reference  has  been  made  in 
previous  chapters,  here  is  his  description  of  a 
night  by  the  way. 

"Our  saddle  blankets  of  sisal  grass  were  spread 
upon  the  ground,  and  as  I  brought  shawls  and  a 
flannel  blanket,  I  rested  quite  comfortable  and  be- 
ing weary  with  a  ride  of  54  miles  and  unaccustom- 
to  the  saddle,  I  slept  very  soon  after  dark.  I 
awoke  at  3:00  A.  M.  and  my  guide  being  chilly 
bult  a  fire,  while  I  walked  away  from  the  light  to 
take  a  view  of  the  starry  heavens.  Every  thought 
of  fatigue  was  lost  in  a  moment  as,  resting  its  base 
upon  the  plain  the  southern  cross  stood  bold  and 
brilliant  before  me,  I  seemed  to  imbibe  for  a  mo 
ment  that  enthusiasm  which  must  have  filled  the 
heart  of  Vasco  de  Gam  a,  and  his  companions  as 
their  eyes  rested  for  the  first  time  on  so  bright  a 
model  of  what  they  held  in  such  high  veneration. 
Other  groups  of  stars,  which  I  now  beheld  for  the 


122  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

first  time  revealed  to  me  what  I  had  so  long  de- 
sired to  see  the  brightest  gems  of  the  southern 
heavens,  which  on  my  previous  visits  to  the  Tropic 
of  Cancer  I  had  been  unable  to  see,  and  perhaps  I 
should  not  on  this  occasion  had  I  not  slept  upon 
the  ground.  The  perpendicular  position  of  the 
cross  at  the  time  I  first  saw  it  was  the  most  favor- 
able that  could  be  desired  and  my  guide  called  my 
attention  to  it  with  a  feeling  bordering  on  ador- 
ation. Passing  onward  through  Jimenez  where  we 
entered  the  more  tropical  region  which  was  clearly 
noticeable  on  reaching  Llera.  This  latter  part  of 
the  route  was  through  a  region  abounding  in 
jaguars  and  pumas,  as  well  as  the  leopard  cat,  and 
the  tigar  cat.  The  puma  fs  very  destructive 
to  herds,  being  especially  fond  of  colts.  The  par- 
rots abound  wherever  there  are  streamlets." 

We  again  quote  from  Memoirs.  "Passing  onward 
from  Llera  we  began  ascending  the  Sierra  Madre 
chain  amid  a  well  watered  but  precipitous  region 
and  had  to  descend  the  mountains  by  zigzag  paths, 
so  steep  that  I  dare  not  traverse  them  on  horse 
back.  After  sleeping  all  night  among  the  clouds 
on  one  of  the  elevated  table  lands  we  descended  to 
a  river  valley  where  giant  thorny  reeds  made  our 
pathway  perilous.  Soon  after  crossing  the  stream 
over  a  rough  bed  of  loose  stones  as  large  as  pump- 
kins we  entered  a  dense  tropical  forest  where 
giant  trees  bound  together  with  vines  and  filled 
with  parrots  and  other  tropical  birds  formed  a 
rough  and  picturesque  passage  between  grotesque 
and  precipitous  mountains  with  projecting  rocky 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PUKDIE  123 

ledges  on  either  hard  of  the  narrow  vaUey  which 
led  ns,  after  a  journey  of  about  seven  mil^  from 
the  fo  d,  to  the  beautiful  tropical  village  o  Gomez 
Farias  The  wild  beauty  of  the  tropical  forest 
^as  not  more  agreeable  than  the  scenery  where 
the  hand  of  man  had  subdued  nature  and  banana 
orchards,  coffee  and  pine  apple  gardens  greeted 

'^"f  began  inquiring  for  our  friend  Pablo  Ibarry 
and  on  reaching  the  door  bis  wife  ran  out  t«  re- 
ceive me,  overjoyed  at  so  unexpected  a  vi^^*^     ^ 
supposed  that  her  husband  was  mside  and  entered 
hastily  to  salute  him  but  what  was  my  surprise  as 
on  turning  around  the  door  I  saw  our  colporteur 
eaUxto  lira  with  a  large  supply  of  books  and 
tracts.     He  was  putting  on  his  coat  to  go  and  see 
Father  Lozano,  but  we  must  now  wait  for  d mner^ 
A  boy  ran  hastily  to  the  sugar  mill  to  call  Don 
Pablo  who  was  as  overjoyed  as  any  of  us     Whilst 
dinner  was  preparing  his  wife  spoke  to  him  m  a 
low  whisper  and  he  grasped  his  cleaving  knife  and 
started  out  the  back  door,  returning  in  a  few  mo- 
ments with  a  large  cluster  of  bananas.     After  din- 
ner Pablo  went  with  us  to  the  ranch  known  as 
'LaChinaca'  residence  of  Father  Lozano  about  a 
mile  and  a  half   from    town.    The  descent   was 
rough  and  when  it  rains  is  very  slippery.     After 
passing  through  a  field  of  sugar  cane  we  came  in 
sight  of  the  house,  a  long  reed  structure  with  a 
palm  leaf  roof,  as  are  all  the  houses  in  Gomez 
Farias.    Father  Lozano  was  dressed  m  the  usual 
style  of  a  city  lawyer,  his  clothes  the  worse  for 


124  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

the  wear,  probably  those  he  wore  when  mentor  of 
the  States  Congress  as  our  legislature  is  called. 
He  received  us  with  warm  hearted  kindness  and 
Christian  affability.  He  is  extremely  sociable, 
humble  in  his  assertions  and  charitable  even  to 
his  enemies.  He  has  the  true  spirit  of  nature's 
nobleman,  as  some  one  has  called  the  agriculturist, 
and  says  that  food  raised  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow 
is  much  sweeter  than  when  purchased  with 
money. 

February  2nd,  1879  was  the  most  remarkable 
day  in  my  missionary  labor  in  this  journey.  The 
morning  was  slightly  uncomfortable,  but  as  soon 
as  breakfast  was  served  our  colporteur  and  Pablo 
Ibarry  were  passing  about  town  arranging  for  a 
public  meeting.  The  only  place  well  seated  was 
the  old  Catholic  Mission  Chapel  now  used  for  a 
public  school,  and  permission  was  readily  granted 
for  its  use.  At  3  P.  M.  a  company  of  about  160 
persons,  including  nearly  all  the  principal  resi- 
dents and  a  fair  proportion  of  females  had  gather- 
ed in  the  chapel.  I  read  some  verses  of  John  4th 
followed  with  an  exposition  of  the  same.  The 
audience  was  greatly  moved  by  the  clear  and  simple 
teaching  of  the  gospel,  so  that  very  many  shed 
tears  and  came  forward  at  the  close  to  express 
their  satisfaction  with  our  visit  to  their  village." 

He  soon  after  returned  home  the  trip  being 
without  special  incident.  On  his  arrival  he  found 
his  name  given  to  a  son  born  to  the  Mascorros  dur- 
ing his  absence. 


Meeting  House  at  Gomez  Farias. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  125 


CHAPTER  XV 

BUILDING   A   MISSION   CHAPEL. 

"Let  us  gather  up  the  sunbeams 
Lying  all  round  our  path; 
Let  us  keep  the  wheat  and  roses, 
Casting  out  the  thorns  and  chaff." 

The  fall  of  1879  was  a  memorable  one  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Friends  Mexican  Mission  because  the 
building  of  a  place  of  worship  on  one  of  the  public 
squares  changed  greatly  the  sphere  of  action  of  the 
mission.  A  lot  had  been  purchased  a  year  previous 
on  "Plaza  de  la  Ldbertad"  (or  Liberty  Square  as 
we  would  term  it  in  English)  and  after  many  unex- 
pected delays  the  work  began  in  November.  The 
Plaza  extended  from  12th  to  13th  streets  100  yards 
the  chapel  was  on  the  east  side  of  12th,  near  the 
south  corner  while  the  house  and  press  rooms  was 
at  the  corner  of  13th  street,  the  width  of  the  square 
away  with  shops  and  stores  between  and  around 
them.  All  their  work  was  thus  removed  to  that 
square  and  as  nearly  all  their  members  resided  in 
that  vicinity  the  attendance  became  more  regular. 
Yet  many  who  saw  these  preparations,  and  de- 
sired to  see  the  building  completed  were  to  be 
laid  away  in  their  graves  ere  it  was  finished  and 
opened  for  public  worship.  It  was  a  very  un- 
healthy winter  in  the  city,  many  dying  of  con- 
sumption in  that  low  lying  seaport  and  their  mem- 
bership^isuffered  very  heavily  at  this  time.     The 


126  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

aged  Petra  Gracia  who  had  so  often  come  to  meet- 
ing leaning  on  her  staff  bent  with  90  years  of  toil , 
was  taken  suddenly  ill  and  after  lingering  several 
days  died  in  perfect  trust  and  hope  of  salvation. 
Tlie  night  before  death,  after  Luciano  had  read  the 
Scriptures  and  prayed  with  her.  Angelita  began 
singing  that  beautiful  hymn,  "O  sing  to  me  of 
Heaven,"  and  the  dying  Christian  joined  her  voice 
weak  indeed  but  joyful,  in  singing  of  that  land  of 
rest  for  the  weary.  Three  or  four  others  which  have 
not  been  introduced  to  our  readers  followed  her 
and  the  little  infant  of  Angelita,  on  whom  the  fond 
parents  had  placed  great  hopes  of  future  useful- 
ness, passed  away;  and  Angflita  already  stricken 
with  that  fatal  disease,  consumption,  was  soon  to 
follow.  She  had  prayed  that  she  might  be  spared 
to  see  the  building  completed  and  she  was  able  to 
be  present  on  that  interesting  occasion  which  oc- 
cured  about  the  middle  of  May  1880. 

Her  physician  considering  the  case  of  Angehta 
almost  hopeless;  and  as  a  journey  to  the  mountains 
offered  a  slight  hope  and  her  friends  at  the  mission 
being  anxious  that  some  one  should  go  to  Gomez 
Farias  to  gather  those  who  had  been  awakened  by 
Samuel's  visit  there  and  also  by  the  tarriance 
there  for  one  month  of  Luciano  Mascorro  a  year 
later;  they  encouraged  th'-m  to  go  to  that  distant 
field.  It  was  a  solemn  parti;  g  not  only  with  rela- 
tives, but  also  with  those  equally  near  and  dear  to 
her  in  the  ties  of  Christian  ffllowship;  yet  she 
started  with  a  cheerful  spirit  having  higli  iiopes  of 
a  speedy  recovery. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  127 

The  journey  of  three  hundred  miles  by  ambu- 
lance to  Victoria  was  quite  fatiguing  but  she  was 
rested  and  improved  by  a  stay  of  a  few  weeks 
amid  the  enchanting  scenery  of  that  upland  city, 
embowered  in  orange  groves  and  nearly  surround- 
ed by  the  bold  outline  of  the  Sierra  Madre  to  the 
westward  with  the  Sierra  of  San  Carlos  to  the 
northward,  and  a  series  of  isolated  hills  to  the  east- 
ward it  presents  a  striking  contrast  to  the  unvary- 
ing unformiyt  of  surroundings  ot  most  of  the  cities 
of  Tamaulipas. 

The  journey  from  Victoria  to  Gomez  Farias  was 
made  on  horseback  by  mule  paths  leading  between 
the  folds  of  the  mountains.  Delayed  by  constant 
rains  and  flooded  strems  they  weie  nine  days  mak- 
ing the  trip  which  in  good  weather  might  have  been 
accomplished  in  three. 

Meetings  were  established  and  kept  up  every 
Sabbath  in  the  village  chapel  which  was  kindly 
furnished  them  by  the  authorities,  who  were  favor- 
able to  the  mission  and  every  night  a  Bible  Class 
met  at  their  house.  About  a  month  later  the  be- 
lievers were  organized  into  a  Church,  by  the  admis- 
sion of  sixteen  members,  and  thus  permanent  work 
began,  the  nucleus  of  a  flourishing  mission  church 
among  the  banana  groves  of  Gomez  Farias. 

Angelita  gave  the  following  accounts  of  the  be- 
nighted condition  of  the  people  around  her.  "Last 
year  in  what  we  called  the  holy  days  (or  Lent)  no- 
tice was  spread  abroad  that  in  one  of  the  ranches 
near  the  village  a  Virgin  had  appeared  in  the  shade 
of  a  green  lemon  tree,  that  God  beholding  the  wick- 


128  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

edness  of  men  (said  the  precursor  of  the  Virgin  a 
girl  of  fifteen  summers)  had  sent  the  image  to  let 
the  world  know  that  if  the  people  did  not  do  penance, 
God  would  make  an  end  of  mankind.  'So  soon  as 
this  notice  spread  among  the  ranches,  the  females 
of  this  and  other  villages  gathered  in  great  num- 
bers to  adore  the  Virgin,  and  from  a  certain  dis- 
tance they  walked  on  their  knees  with  lighted  can- 
dles in  their  hands  to  the  trunk  of  the  lemon  tree, 
where  they  beheld  a  small  round  stone  surrounded 
by  artiticial  flowers,  which  the  ignorance  and 
fanaticism  of  the  people  had  converted  into  an  im- 
age of  the  Virgin  of  Guadalupe,  although  in  reality 
it  was  nothing  more  than  one  of  the  many  beautiful 
stones  to  be  found  in  theb-'dof  our  streams,  adorn- 
ed by  seams  of  varied  color.  Not  women  alone, 
on  this  occasion  but  also  men  noted  in  these  parts 
for  thpir  learning,  reverently  approached  the  lemon 
tree  on  their  knees  to  worsnip  the  image;  repeated 
their  prayers  and  sang.  Although  some  declared 
that  they  saw  it,  ere  many  weeks  the  greater  part 
of  the  people  became  convinced  that  it  was  simply 
a  stone  which  the  hand  of  man  had  planted  in  the 
fork  of  the  lemon  tree." 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE      1S» 
CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    HURRICANE   AT   MATAMOROS. 

'•Oh!  souls  that  bravely  do  and  dare; 
O  hearts  that  to  the  Truth  are  loyal; 
A  crown  of  glory  ye  should  wear, 
For  ye  and  only  ye  are  royal." 

We  quote  largely  in  this  chapter  from  Samuel's 
graphic  description  in  his  Memoirs  of  the  scenes, 
perils,  and  incidents  connected  with  this  memor- 
able occasion;  of  which  he  speaks  as  follows;  "Un- 
expected and  thrilling  events  now  crowded  upon 
the  mission  in  such  quick  succession  that  our  faith 
accustomed  to  sudden  and  severe  provings,  was 
tried  to  the  uttermost  but  a  little  over  a  month  af- 
ter the  departure  of  Luciano  and  Angelita  for  Go- 
mez Farias,  and  just  as  the  city  was  trembling  with 
anxiety  at  a  threatening  inundation,  one  of  those 
terrible  Gulf  hurricanes,  so  dreaded  upon  this 
coast,  broke  with  unrelenting  force  upon  the  city, 
spreading  desolation  and  distress  upon  eve:t  y  hand. 

"Never  can  the  terrific  scenes  of  that  dark  night 
be  effaced  from  memory,  and  although  vivid  in  our 
recollection  how  much  more  so  must  it  have  been 
to  those  homeless  amid  the  maddening  fury 
of  the  atoms,  clinging  to  the  ruins  of  their  homes, 
who  passed  the  night  in  the  open  air,  unpro- 
tected from  the  piercing  blast.  The  dreadful 
hurricanes  of  1867  and  1874  werestill  fresh 
in  the  memory  of  many  of  the  citizens,  and 
the  ruins  they  left  were  still  to  be  seen  in  many 
parts  of  the  city,  and  while  more  damage  was  done 


130  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

to  costly  edifices  in  1867,  and  that  of  1874  lasted  72 
hours,  and  was  therefore  more  tedious,  this  one  of 
August  13th,  1880,  fell  with  more  force  upon  the 
working  class,  and  the  morning  of  the  14th  dawned 
upon  the  ruins  of  1615  homes  mostly  belonging  to 
the  poorer  class  of  residents.  During  all  day 
of  the  13th  the;  police  force  was  busy  in  gathering 
the  poor  people  from  those  shanties  which  seemed 
likely  to  fall  and  some  buildings  near  us  fell  dur- 
ing the  afternoon,  yet  the  greater  part  of  the  de- 
struction took  place  between  sundown  and  mid- 
night, when  there  was  a  lull,  followed  by  the 
dreaded  south  wind.  One  of  our  members  brought 
his  wife  with  her  new  born  child  to  take  refuge  in 
our  house,  and  to  satisfy  her  as  well  as  to  ascer- 
tain how  our  neighbors  had  far"d,  accompanied 
by  W.  A.  Walls,  I  made  a  tour  around  Liberty 
Square,  finding  the  house  of  our  friend  still  stand- 
ing though  five  buildings  on  the  south  of  the  square 
had  been  blown  to  pieces.  The  roof  of  the  car- 
riage sbop  adjoining  our  residence  had  been  blown 
over  our  sitting  room,  throwing  down  some  bricks 
from  the  parapet  wall  and  then  striking  our 
kitchen  had  thrown  down  about  half  the  gable.  Our 
school  building  was  demolished,  and  the  yard 
filled  with  fragments  of  neighboring  buildings. 
During  the  whole  storm  both  Bro.  Walls  and  my- 
self were  busily  occupied  in  bailing  out  water 
which  the  wind  was  forcing  under  the  norih  doors 
and  threatening  us  with  inundation.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  aftor  having  been  a  sufferer  from  rheu- 
matism for  some  months,  and  even  during  the  first 


OP  SAMUKL  A.  PUKDIE  131 

part  of  the  stcrm,  I  was  forced  to  walk  barefoot, 
and  often  in  several  inches  of  water  for  about  nine 
hours,  and  suffered  no  inconvenience,  nor  did  the 
disease  reappear. 

"One  of  the  most  interesting  visits  during  that 
memorable  night  was  to  the  residence  of  our 
friend  and  fellow-laborer  Julio  Gonzalez  Gea,  for  on 
visiting  our  meeting  house  which  had  suffered 
considerably  we  passed  over  ruins  of  fences  and 
shanties  to  his  house,  and  seeing  a  light  within  we 
knocked.  We  found  the  children  asleep  and  the 
bible  lay  open  upon  the  table,  where  during  the 
force  of  the  storm  he  had  been  reading  the  Psalms 
of  David  and  engaged  in  earnest  prayer  for  his 
fellow-beings.  We  saw  him  in  an  hour  when  all 
gloss  was  cast  aside,  but  he  was  relying  upon  the 
promises  of  God.  We  never  afterwards  doubted 
the  sincerity  of  his  faith  in  Christ. 

"Many  of  our  members  had  lost  their  homes  and 
were  suffering  for  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  we 
obtained  a  loan  from  a  merchant  to  supply  their 
wants,  which  was  replaced  by  donations  from 
Friends  in  the  United  States  and  England.  Col- 
lections were  taken  among  the  wealthy  to  aid  the 
poor  and  as  our  xMexican  telegraph  lines  were  not 
destroyed,  the  news  of  our  disaster  stirred  the 
whole  republic,  and  funds  were  speedily  gathered 
to  relieve  the  sufferers.  Nearly  one  third  of  the 
houses  have  been  destroyed  and  one  third  of  the 
town  being  still  inundated.  The  poor  people  were 
lodged  in  the  school  and  municipal  building  as  well 
as  in  those  houses  which  were  unoccupied  at  the 


132  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

time,  which  were  seized  by  the  authorities  for  that 
purpose.  The  smallpox  which  had  become  a  con- 
stand  resident  of  the  suburbs  now  broke  out  with 
relentless  fury  in  the  central  part  of  the  city  and 
more  than  500  fell  victims  to  the  scourge,  among 
them  several  of  our  flock, 

"Whilst  this  dark  cloud  was  gathering  over  us, 
our  anxiety  about  Luciano  and  Angelita  was  daily 
increasing,  and  it  was  decided  to  send  W.  A.  WaLs 
to  visit  them;  and  not  being  able  to  get  passage  by 
sea  he  went  overland  in  a  cart  going  to  Victoria, 
Arriving  at  Gomez  Farias  in  about  two  weeks  he 
found  them  prosecuting  the  work  with  vigor, 
while  her  health  was  gradually  tailing. 

"  W.  A.  Walls  after  a  short  sojourn,  to  learn  the 
condition  of  the  work  and  the  workers,  returned 
alone  to  Matamoros.  When  about  thirty  miles 
from  the  city  he  fell  in  with  highwaymen  and  his 
experience  was  so  singular  and  perilous  that  our 
readers  will  be  glad  to  see  it  in  his  own  words  as 
written  at  the  time  for  the  'Christian  Worker.' 

*'  'Before  reaching  Matamoros  I  got  a  lesson 
which  would  have  convinced  the  sturdiest  of 
doubters.  On  Tuesday  started  at  three  o'clock  in 
the  morning  partly  because  the  rain  made  my 
ebony  bush  an  uncomfortable  roof,  and  partly  be- 
cause a  seventy  mile  trip  lay  between  me  and  my 
bed  room  at  Matamoros.  About  nine  in  the 
morning  1  was  overtaken  by  three  horsemen,  all 
on  good  horses,  but  as  we  were  in  sight  of  a  farm 
they  simply  past  the  usual  'Buenos  dias,  senor,' 
and  rode  on  to  the  house.     I  did  not  like  the  ap- 


OP  SAMUEL  A.   PURDIE  133 

pearance,  but  as  I  had  no  business  at  the  farm  I 
rode  quietly  past.  When  about  a  mile  beyond  I 
was  again  overtaken  by  the  same  company,  and  they 
now  proposed  that  we  should  journey  to  Matamoros 
together.  Consentino:  to  the  arrangement,  one  of 
them  went  immdeiately  in  front  and  the  others  one 
at  each  side  of  my  horse. 

"As  this  order  of  march  was  a  little  suspicious,  I 
turned  my  beast  suddenly,  so  as  to  be  at  the  side  of 
the  road,  and  saw  that  one  of  my  companions  had  a 
pistol  in  his  hand,  which  he  put  out  of  sight  as 
quickly  as  possible,  and  supposed  it  had  escaped 
observation.  I  now  knew  the  character  of  my  com- 
panions, and  could  simply  put  upa  fervent  petition 
to  our  Father  for  protection.  The  leader  of  the  com- 
pany offered  to  show  me  a  shorter  road  to  Mata- 
moros, and  proposed  that  we  should  leave  the  high- 
way to  find  this  short  cut.  When  I  declined  this 
obliging  offer,  which  was  intended  to  draw  me  into 
the  chapparal,  where  the  buzzards  would  probably 
be  the  only  discoverers  of  the  body,  he  threw  off  his 
mask  of  pretended  kindness,  and  pointing  his  pistol 
at  my  head,  threatened  me  with  instant  death  if  I 
did  not  follow  the  foremost  of  the  company.  As  it 
seemed  like  leaving  the  path  of  duty,  I  refused  to 
leave  the  only  place  in  which  I  had  a  right  to  expect 
God's  protection.  The  front  man  now  seized  my 
horse's  halter  and  attempted  to  lead  him  away  from 
the  road.  I  at  once  dismounted  and  with  a  jerk 
freed  the  rope  from  his  grasp. 

"Knives,  men,"  said  the  captain,  and  two  knives 
each  over  a  foot  long,  were  held  threateningly  over 


134  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

my  breast.  Then  the  captain  a  second  time  order- 
ed me,  on  pain  of  immediate  death,  to  accompany 
them  to  the  northward.  Tlie  reply  was,  'You  may 
kill  me  if  you  will,  it  makes  no  difference  to  me; 
thanks  to  God  I  am  ready,  but  this  is  my  road  from 
here  I  will  not  go. '  'Are  you  prepared?'  'Yes,' 
The  idea  seemed  a  novel  one,  and  the  knives  disap- 
peared, though  the  pistol,  with  its  five  barrels  all 
charged,  still  remained  pointed  at  my'face.  I  then 
asked  who  they  were,  and  where  they  lived,  and 
was  told  that  they  were  'Gentlemen  of  St.  John,' 
and  hved  under  the  moon!  He  now  demanded  my 
money.  I  gave  him  a  fifty-cent  piece  which  I  had 
in  my  pocket,  not  caring  to  show  my  purse,  which 
contained  about  eight  dollars — more  than  I  could 
afford  to  lose.  He  said:— It  is  very  little;  have  you 
no  more?  Yes,  but  I  need  the  rest,  which  was 
true. 

"He  again  asked  for  it,  but  in  a  somewhat  doubt- 
ful tone,  as  if  he  expected  to  be  refused,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that  I  need  make  no  further  sacrifice, 
so  I  told  him  that  I  could  spare  the  half  dollar,  but 
no  more.  'Vamos,  let  us  be  off,'  he' said  to  his  fel- 
low bandits,  and  they  galloped  on  at  a  lively  rate. 

"Returning  thanks  to  God,  who  had  so  wonder- 
fully delievered  me  from  the  hands  of  those  high- 
waymen, I  remounted  and  at  a  slower  pace  follow- 
ed. Certainly  it  is  not  usual  for  the  Mexican  'road 
agents'  to  let  their  victim  escape  with  his  life, 
much  less  to  carry  his  money  out  of  their  hands. 
I  can  only  praise  God,  who,  in  thejmoment  of  peril, 
kept  my  mind  perfectly  quiet.     When  I  refused  to 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  135 

leave  the  road  I  expected  to  receive  a  shot  instant- 
y,  and  as  the  mind  works  with  more  than  light- 
ning rapidity  the  thought  of  past  occupations,  ap- 
parently important  once,  but  now,  when  face  to  face 
with  eternity,  utterly  trivial,  filled  me  with  shame 
for  wasted'.opportunities;  at  the  same  time  I  had  an 
unutterable  gladness  at  the  thought  that  sudden 
death  was  sudden  glory,  that  to  leave  this  earth 
was  only  to  leave  earthly  friends  for  the  presence 
of  Him  who  is  dearer  than  all  other  friends. 

"While  regretting  the  misspent  time  and  lost 
opportunities,  I  felt  great  calmness  from  the  know- 
ledge that  through  the  blood  of  Christ  I  was  ac- 
cepted, and  was  enabled  say  in  my  heart,  O  Lord', 
deliver  Thy  servant  in  Thine  own  way,  by  life,  for 
Thy  service  on  earth,  or  by  death  for  Thy  praise 
in  heaven. 

"I  have  often  thought,  and  now  know,  that  the 
mind  can  carry  on  several  operations  at  the  same 
time.     While  meditating  on  my  past  life,  and  re- 
joicing that  the  question  of  salvation  was  settled,  I 
was  also  wondering  at  the  same  instant  how  it  feels 
to  be  shot,  and  whether  he  intended  to  fire  at  the 
head  or  the  heart,  whether  a  second  shot  would  be 
necessary  and  what  Mr.  Purdie  would  say  when  he 
heard  of  it.     Also  I  thought  of  the  pain  which  the 
news  would  give  at  home,  all  apparently  in  an  in- 
stant.    One  idea,  amusing  from  its  triviality,  kept 
coming  up,  certainly  without  any  effort  of  mine 
suddenly  presented  itself,  "WeU  Mrs.  Purdie  will 
never  get  her  oranges."    While  so  many  other  im- 
portant questions  were  occupying  my  attention, 


136  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

this  was  certainly  an  odd  notion  for  that  moment. 
I  also  remember  counting  repeatedly  the  five  bar- 
rels of  the  pistol,  and  even  noted  the  carving  of  the 
handle  with  a  singular  curiosity." 

In  speaking  of  his  return  which  was  unexpected 
so  soon,  Samuel  wrote  as  follows:  "It  was  very 
late  one  dark  night  about  the  middle  of  Nov,  that  a 
call  at  our  door,  summoned  me  from  my  studies  and 
recognizing  the  voice  of  Bro.  Walls,  I  hastened  to 
the  door  and  on  oppening  it  he  said,  'Behold  a  cer- 
tain man  going  from  Jerusalem  to  Jerico  fell  among 
thieves  I  did  not  ask  an  explanation,  but  hasten  to 
the  yard  to  open  the  gate  to  admit  his  horse,  and  on 
dismounting  he  jovially  said  that  he  had  a  bag  of 
oranges  for  Gulielma,'  I  replied  that  she  was  in  N. 
C,  to  which  he  paid  no  attention,  and  it  was  not  un- 
til he  had  entered  the  house  and  found  me  alone, 
that  each  became  convinced  that  what  had  seemed 
joking  was  sober  reality. 

"The  prevalence  of  small  pox  making  it  seem 
dangerous  for  our  little  son  of  six  weeks  old  to  re- 
main in  the  city,  Guilielma  decided  to  make  her 
proposed  visit  to  her  parents,  (after  an  absence  of 
ten  years),  without  delay,  so  had  already  reached 
her  destination." 

Mention  has  not  been  made  of  the  interesting 
event  in  the  family  circle  which  occurred  about  the 
first  of  October  at  which  time  he  telegraphed  to  his 
father  at  Columbus,  N.  Y.,  this  laconic  sentence, 
"Joseph  Moore  Purdie,  weighed  nine  pounds,  moth- 
er and  child  both  doing  well." 

During  the  autom  of  1880  the  epidemic  of  small 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  137 

pox  was  very  severe,  there  being  more  than  600 
deaths  in  the  last  three  months  of  the  year;  and 
Samuel  during  this  time  was  constantly  caring 
for  the  sick  and  the  dying,  daily  exposed  to  the 
disease,  he  kept  up  until  about  New  Years  when  a 
severe  storm  and  cold  snap,  gave  him  a  hard  cold, 
which  was  followed  by  pneumonia  for  two  weeks  he 
was  very  sick,  and  was  convalescent  he  thought 
best  to  go  soon  to  join  his  wife  in  North  Carolina. 

W.  A.  Walls  with  Francisco  Pena,  had  been  sent 
to  Gomez  Farias  to  conduct  the  mission  and  allow 
Liciano  and  Angelita  to  remove  to  Llera  where  there 
were  better  conditions  for  her  failing  health.  And 
now  to  permit  his  absence  it  was  necessary  to  re- 
call Bro.  Walls  to  attend  to  the  English  correspon- 
dence of  the  mission,  and  all  hopes  of  Angelita's  re- 
gaining her  health  having  been  abandoned  it  was 
thought  best  for  them  to  return  and  take  up  the 
mission  woik  at  Matamoros.  Just  at  this  needy 
hour,  Encarnacian  Gonzales,  an  elder  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  who  had  long  felt  called  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  requested  for  a  transfer  to 
our  church. 

This  seemed  providential  at  that  juncture.  Wm. 
Walls  returned  during  the  latter  part  of  Feb.  1881, 
and  arrangements  were  made  for  sending  Encar- 
natian  Gonzalez  and  wife  to  the  southern  mission, 
and  soon  after  Samuel's  departure  for  the  north, 
Luciano  and  Angelita  arrived  at  Matamoros. 

She  only  survived  three  days  after  her  arrival, 
and  was  often  engaged  in  helping  sing  hymns  full 
of  consolation  for  the  dying  Christian.     She  died 


188  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

just  as  she  seemed  prepared  for  the  service  of  life, 
mourned  by  all  who  knew  her,  and  the  mission 
church  realized  that  the  dear  young  woman  who 
had  been  called  away  at  but  21  years  of  age  had  been 
to  them  a  mother  in  Israel.  Her  death  could  hard- 
ly have  been  unexpected  to  Samuel  still  its  final  an- 
nouncement must  have  brought  to  him  as  like 
events  do  to  each  one  of  us, — a  sense  of  sadness 
and  bereavement,  when  our  hopes  of  again  meeting 
on  earth  are  destroyed. 

The  news  reached  him  just  as  he  was  entering  a 
Bible  School  Conference  at  Back  Creek,  N.  C. 
where  the  telegram  was  read  and  a  sermon  appro- 
priate to  so  solemn  an  occasion  was  preached  by 
Rufus  P.  King  which  will  long  be  remember  by 
those  who  heard  it. 


Samuel  A.  Pukdie  anu  Family. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  13d 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

VISIT   TO  THE  HOMELAND. 

"This  truth  comes  more  and  more  to  us  the 
longer  we  liye  that  on  what  field  or  in 
what  uniform,  or  with  what  aims  we  do 
our  duty  matters  \ery  little  or  even 
what  that  duty  is,  great  or  small,  splendid 
or  obscure.  Only  that  we  we  find  our  duty 
certainly  and  somewhere,  somehow  do  it 
faithfully,  makes  us  good,  strong,  useful 
men,  and  tunes  our  lives  into  some  feeble 
echo  of  the  life  of  God.  "—Phillips  Brooks. 

Leaving  Matamoros  on  the  steamer  for  New 
Orleans  about  2nd  mo.  20th,  1881,  he  took  with 
him  their  adopted  girls  Juanita  and  Petra,  who 
were  about  eight  and  six  years  of  age  respectfully. 
To  leave  them  behind  exposed  to  the  epidemic 
without  their  care  would  have  been  hazardous  and 
it  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  show  their  friends  in 
the  north  samples  of  those  foreign  races  the  Span- 
ish and  the  Mexican;  and  perhaps  he  then  contem- 
plated the  leaving  of  Juanita  for  school  privileges 
in  English,  as  they  eventually  did. 

Taking  rail  at  New  Orleans  he  arrived  among  his 
friends  in  N.  C,  just  in  time  to  attend  the  funeral 
of  grandmother  Hoover  who  died  on  the  morning  of 
March  3d.  After  spending  the  month  in  N.  C.  visit- 
ing relatives,  friends  and  acquaintances  and  at- 
tending meeting  she  started  with  his  family  for  the 
old  home  in  New  York;  at  Philadelphia  he  sent  his 
family  forward  while  he  tarried  a  few  days  to  pre- 
sent the  claims  of  the  mission,  from  there  he  went 


140  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

to  Indiana  to  meet  the  P.  M.  Committee  and  the 
many  interested  friends  c  f  the  work  in  that  locality, 
receiving  their  hearty  approval  of  his  diligence 
and  steadfastness  in  the  work  through  flood  and 
storm,  through  war  and  pestilence 

From  his  detailed  and  complete  reports  of  the 
work  from  year  to  year  they  must  have  realized 
something  of  the  magnitude  of  the  work  he  had  ac- 
complished. 

While  there  he  made  arrangements  for  the  stay 
of  Juanita  among  them,  to  acquire  an  education  at 
Earlham  College,  entering  a  preparatory  depart- 
ment in  autumn.  In  the  meantime  she  was  attend- 
ing the  closing  term  of  a  country  school  near  the 
home  of  the  writer  in  New  York,  in  company  with 
his  brother  Joseph's  little  daughter  Rosa  whom  she 
resembled  very  much  in  appearance  and  dispo&tion. 
Having  completed  his  work  there  he  once  more 
turned  his  face  toward  the  old  homestead  with  its 
loved  ones. 

After  ten  years  of  absence  among  varied  seenes 
and  still  more  varied  experiences  in  life,  he  comes 
again  to  the  old  familiar  fire  side  still  surrounded 
by  his  parents,  brother  and  sister;  the  older  sister 
had  married  in  the  mean  time  and  removed  to  west- 
ern New  York. 

A  happy  reunion  a  time  of  blessed  communion 
over  the  experiences  of  the  past,  life  brings  few 
richer  social  privileges. 

The  summer  passed  rapidly,  visiting  with  his 
family  among  their  many  relatives  and  friends;  and 
attending  some  of  the  Eastern  yearly  meetings  to 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PUKDIE  141 

encourage  them  in  mission  work,  and  to  show  an 
appreciation  of  their  past  efforts. 

In  the  8th.  month  they  started  on  their  home 
journey  by  the  way  of  Cincinnati  to  New  Orleans* 
They  wereto  meet  Mahala  Jay  at  Dayton  to  accom- 
pany Juanita  to  her  home  in  Richmond,  Ind., 
but  by  a  mistake  of  a  ticket  agent  they  failed  to 
connect,  and  so  left  her  at  a  friends'  in  Covington, 
Ky.,  from  whence  she  could  readily  reach  Rich- 
mond. 

Reaching  Matamoros  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
month  they  resumed  charge  of  the  work  again. 

On  August  29th.,  1881  Wm.  A.  Walls  and  Concep- 
tion Aquilar  the  sister  of  Angelita  were  married; 
and  were  stationed  at  Escandon  where  they  labor- 
ed for  two  years  under  the  P.  M.  Committe  of 
Ohio  Yearly  Meeting. 

After  this  strenuous  vacation  in  the  north  land, 
he  settled  down,  to  the  the  mission  work  with  his 
usual  energy  and  enthusiasm.  But  the  severe  storm 
and  continuous  rains  of  the  winter  were  so  trying 
on  their  health  and  the  constant  strain  of  the  work 
and  the  bustle  and  excitement  of  the  surroundings 
of  the  mission,  were  so  exhausting  to  mind  and 
body  that  for  a  time  they  listened  to  the  solicita- 
tions of  his  parents  and  thought  seriously  of  re« 
signing  the  work  and  returning  to  New  York,  and 
make  a  home  among  the  Chenango  hills,  as  prefer- 
able to  the  more  genial  climate  of  the  Carolinaa. 

But  he  was  engaged  in  a  great  work  no  one  could 
have  tilled  his  place,  without  much  experience  and 
long  acquaintance  with  the  conduct  of  the  mission 


142  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

field.     Prom  him  to  have  left  it  at  this  time  would 
have  been  a  setback  of  perhaps  years  in  this  work. 

The  call  of  duty  and  the  pleadings  and  prayers  of 
his  friends  led  him  to  abandon  his  purpose  in  the 
spring  time,  for  we  find  him  writing  to  his  father 
under  date  4th,  month.,  27.  "While  I  would  for  my 
own  part  very  gladly  return  to  United  States,  and 
so  would  Gulielma,  but  the  tender  pleadings  of  the 
F.  M.  Committee  and  the  tears  of  our  members 
here  have  for  the  present  overcome  our  resolutions, 
while  dry  weather  and  improved  health  and  espec- 
ially that  of  Joseph  have  induced  us  to  determine 
to  stand  at  the  mission  helm  sometime  longer." 

June  25th,  they  took  an  outing  on  the  beach  at 
Aqua  Dulce,  42  miles  to  the  southeast  of  Matamoros. 
They  occupied  a  house  about  100  steps  from  the 
beach,  and  bathing  only  twice  a  day,  they  had  am- 
ple time  to  gatlier  sheils  and  ramble  up  and  down 
the  beach  and  out  among  the  sand  hills. 

Having  as  he  said  the  most  pleasant  time  of  bath- 
ing they  ever  enjoyed,  lor  about  two  weeks,  arriv- 
ing home  on  the  8th.  of  July,  anxious  to  hurry  up 
the  press  work  which  was  now  crowding  them. 

On  the  11th,  he  wrote  his  mother:  "  I  often  think 
of  home,  and  how  I  could  enjoy  the  retirement  of 
farm- life,  so  different  from  the  crowd  of  an  im- 
mense correspondence  and  theurgency  of  apublish- 
ing  house  which  sends  its  books  over  half  the  west- 
ern Continent,  and  the  crowd  and  the  stir  of  life  in 
a  city.  For  the  present  il  seems  impos.'^ibie  for  us  to 
think  of  leaving  the  work.  It  never  was  so  exten- 
sive." 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  143 

"Yesterday  I  had  a  call  for  books  from  Valparai- 
so, a  few  days  before  from  Madrid,  and  from  the 
Central  American  States  we  have  interesting  cor- 
respondences." 

The  latter  part  of  the  month  yellow  fever  again 
became  epidemic  in  Matamoros.  Gulielma  had  a 
slight  attack,  as  those  who  have  had  it  once  usually 
suffer  less  the  second  time.  "Yellow  fever  unless 
fatal  is  a  very  slight  disease.  All  depending  on  col- 
lapse or  convalescence."  But  some  of  his  household 
suffered  much  more,  little  Petra  lay  at  the  point  of 
death  for  several  days,  but  finally  rallied. 

Samuel  was  down  for  two  days  and  writing  to 
his  mother  under  date  of  Aug.  lith.,  he  says: 

"  We  supposed  that  the  illness  of  Gulielma  ten  day 
before  had  been  symptoms  of  yellow  fever,  but  just 
as  I  began  to  get  around  she  was  taken  with  violent 
pun  in  back  and  limbs,  and  her  fever  soon  rose  to 
104  with  delerium,  no  doctor  could  be  had  until  5  p. 
m  ,  as  three  of  them  had  yellow  fever,  yet  ice  treat- 
ment was  began  at  once,  her  fever  lasted  8  hours 
and  next  day  she  was  quite  cheerful  and  seemed 
likely  soon  to  be  about  the  house.  Her  fever  how- 
ever returned,  and  we  are  still  strugghng  with  it." 

"There  are  about  20  cases  among  our  members  as 
yet  no  deaths,  and  only  one  in  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sion, which  is  now  our  care,  its  missionaries  resid- 
ing in  Brownsville  being  prevented  from  coming 
here  by  quarantine." 

On  the  27th.  he  wrote  that  the  fever  stiU  con- 
tinues its  ravages,  and  had  left  many  children  or- 
phans and  sometimes  wiped  out  whole  families. 


144  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

TO  THE  SOUTHERN    MISSIONS    WITH    ISAAC  SHARP. 

"O  the  stars  never  tread  the  blue  heavens  at  night 
But  we  think  where  the  ransoriied  have  trod 
And  the  sun  never  shines  from  his  palace  of  light 
But  we  feel  the  bright  smile  of  our  God." — Clark. 

We  wished  to  visit  Gomez  Farias  as  funds  were 
available  for  building  a  meeting  house  in  that  vil- 
lage and  also  adds: 

"There  is  great  satisfaction  in  having  passed 
through  the  yellow  fever  with  safety,  as  I  can  now 
leave  home  for  a  visit  south  better  than  before,  and 
we  shall  all  be  less  liable  than  heretofore  to  other 
fevers." 

So  about  the  middle  of  Sept.  he  started  forward 
tarrying  for  a  few  days  at  Victoria  which  he  says 
is  much  more  beautiful  than  when  he  visited  it  nine 
years  before. 

After  his  return  he  wrote  to  his  mother  a  brief 
account  of  his  trip,  some  extracts  from  which  may 
prove  of  interest  to  our  readers. 

"I  spent  two  weeks  in  Gomez  Farias,  and  arrang- 
ed all  I  could  abo'it  building  the  meeting  house  and 
had  meetings  every  night  for  the  whole  two  weeks- 
By  day  I  visited  the  members  at  their  homes,  ate 
oranges  and  bananas,  visited  one  of  the  grottos,  and 
thus  en  ployed  my  time  very  closely.  I  twice  visit- 
ed Father  Lozano  at  his  home.     On   10  mo.  9th,  we 


OP  SAMUEL  A,  PURDIE  145 

left  Gomez  Farias  at  dawn  and  reached  Escandon 
about  noon.  The  descent  of  the  Sierra  Mad  re  was 
tiresome,  the  pack-mule  with  two  small  trunks  giv- 
ing us  little  no  trouble  and  the  horse  used  as  a  pack 
animal  suffered  much  from  the  weight  of  the  large 
trunk.  W.  A.  Walls  had  dinner  ready,  and  we  soon 
had  our  baggage  in  the  carriage  ready  to  begin  our 
journey, 

"We  expected  to  spend  fifteen  days  on  the  road, 
but  unexpected  delays  extended  it  to  twenty  days. 
We  had  aside  from  our  baggage  quite  a  variety  of 
banana  plants,  ginger  roots  etc.  for  planting. 

Our  journey  was  rough  and  tiresome  and  much 
more  like  working  on  a  farm,  hauling  rails  or  wood 
than  like  travehng  on  a  public  highway.  Deep  gul- 
hed  streams,  rocky  places  for  leagues  and  thus  on 
foot  and  with  rough  driving  there  was  scarcely  any 
pleasure  on  the  whole  trip. 

"The  second  day  from  Victoria  we  broke  the 
king  bolt  of  our  carriage,  and  the  next  day  worse 
still  were  caught  between  two  rivers  in  flood, 
where  we  were  detained  five  days  and  one  half  and 
exposure  to  a  severe  storm  of  wind  and  rain  brought 
on  an  at  tack  of  bilious  fever,  which  gained  force 
for  twelve  days  ere  I  reached  a  place  where  proper 
remedies  could  be  had. 

"  We  reached  San  Fernando  in  two  weeks  from 
Victoria,  and  the  12th  day  of  my  fever.  There 
proper  remedies  and  kind  care  soon  improved  my 
health,  and  on  the  4th.,  I  reached  home.  On  look- 
ing back  it  seems  a  miracle  that  I  did  not  die  either 
of  fever  or  starvation,  for  scarcely  any  food  I  could 


146  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

eat  was  to  be  had  on  the  way.  Since  reaching  homa 
I  have  improved  rapidly  and  am  able  to  take  part  in 
office  work. 

"  Among  the  curious  plants  we  brought  is  a  varie- 
ty of  squash  which  has  but  one  seed,  or  rather  the 
squash  is  a  seed,  and  they  sprout  and  grow  for 
sometime  when  hung  by  a  thread,  or  while  still  at- 
tached to  the  parent  vine." 

Thus  though  dificulties  and  dangers,  through 
trials  and  hardships,  he  kept  right  on  striving  for 
the  advancement  of  the  work  in  which  he  was  en- 
listed. Toward  the  close  of  the  year  he  wrote." 
"There  are  still  a  few  cases  of  yellow  fever  in  the 
city,  but  it  has  ceased  to  be  epidemic.  Our  work  is 
going  forward  quite  encouragingly  and  our  wants 
are  much  better  supplied  and  our  home  on  account 
of  the  repairs  to  the  house  last  spring  is  much  more 
comfortable  than  formerly.  Thus  while  we  seem 
obliged  to  stay  here,  we  hope  to  enjoy  our  lives  bet- 
ter than  heretofore  and  with  less  hardshiys." 

The  family  were  just  getting  back  to  health,  af- 
ter their  siege  with  fever,  and  as  he  had  re  pa  red 
the  shattered  carriage,  which  arrived  so  dilapidated 
from  its  trip  across  the  plains,  and  havmg  a  horse, 
as  the  weather  and  streets  improved  they  began 
riding  out  for  their  health,  extending  their  drives 
on  to  the  beautiful  plains  west  of  the  city.  Writing 
to  his  mother  under  date  1st  mo  13th,  1883  he  said: 
"If  the  weather  keeps  as  clear  and  beautiful  as  now 
■we  hope  to  ride  an  hour  or  two  daily.  I  think  it  will 
help  us  for  we  eat  twice  as  much  supper  as  we  usu- 
ally do.     The  grass  and  the  trees  are  now  brown  as 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  147 

we  had  a  frost  on  the  7th.  but  a  week  of  sunny 
weather  will  change  it  all  to  a  vivid  green,  and  an- 
other week  or  two  will  spread  the  whole  plain  for  a 
1000  square  miles  with  purple  verbenas  and  pink 
amapolis. 

"We  have  made  great  progress  during  the  week 
in  the  press  room  and  yesterday  and  to-day  both 
presses  have  been  running  at  their  highest  speed 
hour  after  hour.  We  have  a  great  crowd  of  work 
on  hand  and  next  week  hope  to  print  1000  second 
Readers  which  will  keep  our  largest  press  running 
most  of  the  working  hours  of  the  whole  week.  We 
have  work  for  over  six  months  already  planned  out 
and  in  progress  even  working  as  fast  as  in  the  past 
week." 

The  first  R.  R.  from  Matamoros  was  just  opened, 
running  south  toward  Monterey.  On  his  fortieth 
birthday  March  5th.,  they  invited  to  dinner  a  com- 
pany of  young  people  and  school  girls,  and  after 
dinner  took  a  walk  to  the  station  just  outside  the 
city  walls  at  the  Monterey  gate  a  half  a  mile  from 
the  mission  to  see  the  train  start  as  some  of  them 
had  never  seen  the  new  R.  R. 

The  trains  ran  twice  daily  toPala  Blanco,  about 
11  miles  and  they  were  building  rapidly  beyond. 

In  the  latter  part  of  April  Samuel  with  Gulielma 
and  Joseph  made  a  trip  for  change  and  rest  to  San 
Fernando  going  by  carriage.  They  were  four  days 
on  the  road,  each  way. 

Joseph  had  some  fever  for  several  days  before 
starting  homeward  and  the  last  day  of  the  journey 
he  broke  out  with  smallpox,  it  staid  out  twenty 


148  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

days  but  was  so  mild  he  was  up  and  around  all  the 
time,  and  thus  passed  with  safety  through  a  much 
dreaded  disease. 

A  letter  from  the  north  induced  him  soon  to  make 
a  visit  to  Soto  la  Marina  with  Librado  Ramirez,  with 
a  view  to  establishing  a  mission  in  that  port.  They 
started  June  26th,  accompanied  by  Julia  Gonzalez 
Gea  and  son  who  had  been  on  a  visit  to  Matamoros 
and  were  returning  to  his  home  at  San  Fernando, 
where  he  was  taught  the  school  which  Samuel  said 
was  the  great  element  of  future  growth  for  the  work 
there. 

Soto  La  Marina  has  a  fine  location  on  a  beautiful 
river  lined  with  heavy  forest  trees.  After  a  stay 
of  a  day  or  two  they  started  homeward  making  the 
trip  in  about  six  days. 

Having  made  arrangements  for  their  residence 
there  Librado  and  Frances  prepared  to  remove  to 
Soto  La  Marina  and  open  a  mission  there;  their  ro- 
bust little  boy  just  beginning  to  creep  was  named 
Micajah  in  honor  of  M,  M.  Binford  who  was  at 
Samuels  when  Frances  first  came  to  live  with  them. 

In  a  week's  time  they  were  on  the  road  to  the 
new  field. 

Writing  to  his  mother  under  date  9th  mo.  28th 
he  said:  "While  quite  tired  out  by  the  over-exer- 
tion in  the  work  during  the  week  as  well  as  to-day, 
a  day  of  rest,  but  not  for  those  commissioned  to 
rescue  the  lost. 

"This  evening  I  addressed  quite  a  large  meeting 
from  Romans  6-1,  and  had  more  than  usual  free- 
dom and  the  words  seemed  to  be  felt  by  many. 


Elisco  Mascokro.  Eva  L.  Mascokko. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  149 

"What  a  force  and  beauty  in  the  expression — 
'Dead  unto  sin,"  may  all  who  profess  the  name  of 
Christ  know  of  such  a  blessed  experience  as  their 
daily  joy  and  their  everlasting  crown." 

After  referring  to  the  expected  arrival  of  Isaac 
Sharp  and  his  trip  with  him,  he  speaks  of  his  own 
good  health  and  also  that  of  Joseph,  and  then  adds. 

"He  is  becoming  very  inquisitive,  some  of  his 
questions  being  very  dificult  to  answer.  A  few  days 
ago  it  was  raining  very  gently  and  he  wished  to 
know  how  the  water  came  down  in  drops,  and  if  the 
heavens  had  little  holes  like  our  plant  waterer?  A 
few  minutes  ago  I  was  showing  him  the  stars  when 
he  asked  me  if  they  were  made  new  every  night, 
and  when  I  told  him  that  they  were  there  in  the  day 
time,  then  when  the  sun  went  down  we  could  see 
them,  be  said  that  when  the  sun  arose  they  went 
out,  and  were  lit  again  when  it  went  down.  He  is 
very  much  of  a  thinker,  and  very  desirous  of  work- 
ing with  a  hammer  and  saw,  though  preaching  is 
his  favorite  employment." 

In  Nov.  they  received  the  expected  visit  from 
Isaac  Sharp  an  English  Friend  about  80  years  of 
age  who  was  on  a  tour  of  the  world  and  came  from 
the  west  by  way  of  San  Francisco.  Samuel  went 
with  him  as  interpeter,  on  a  visit  to  the  other  mis- 
sion stations  at  the  south.  Julia  L.  Ballenger  of 
North  Carolina  had  arrived  and  would  be  there  with 
Gulielma  during  his  abscence,  he  speaks  of  her  as  a 
remarkably  earnest  and  devoted  young  woman,  her 
sister  had  been  his  classmate  at  the  Normal 
School  at  Winchester,  N.  C.  in  the  summer  of  1867. 


150  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

About  the  first  of  Dec.  they  started  south,  at  San 
Fernando  they  were  detained  a  few  days  by  the  ill- 
ness of  Isaac  Sharp,  on  the  4th  he  was  so  that  they 
visited  the  school  and  hstened  to  the  lessons  and 
some  declamations. 

Writing  from  Jimenez  on  the  13th.  to  his  wife  he 
says  "Since  San  Fernando  our  friend  has  been  get- 
ting on  well  and  has  stood  the  journey  better  than 
we  anticipated. 

We  have  been  to  Soto  la  Marina  and  returned 
making  near  500  miles  of  travel  since  leaving  home. 
"Yesterday  we  came  near  running  over  a  large  rat- 
tle-snake, and  as  Isaac  Sharp  had  never  seen  one  I 
jumped  out  with  him  contrary  to  my  usual  pract- 
ice, and  as  a  strong  stick  some  six  feet  long  lay  near 
by  I  gave  it  a  blow  back  of  the  head  which  stunoed 
it,  and  made  it  an  easy  prey. 

"  A  few  joints  of  its  rattle  had  been  lost  prior  to 
this  battle,  though  nine  were  still  left.  It  must 
have  been  twelve  years  old.  "We  took  off  its  skin 
and  stretched  it  on  the  old  flower  stalk  of  a  century 
plant  to  dry,  so  he  could  take  it  to  England. 

"Ignacio  Boledo  gave  him  a  Lion's  skin  which  has 
pleased  him  greatly."  It  having  been  decided  for 
W.  A.  Walls  and  family  to  return  to  Matamoros  he 
taking  the  position  of  teacher  in  the  school,  and 
Isaac  Sharp  having  visited  all  the  southern  mis- 
sions returned  with  them  to  Matamoros  while  Sam- 
uel tarried  at  Gomez  Farias  to  aid  in  the  completion 
of  the  meeting  house.  The  windows  were  not  yet 
in,  and  having  sent  to  Matamoros  for  glass,  he  was 
busy  making  the  sash  to  receive  it  on  its  arrival. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  151 

Thus  we  find  him  master  of  all  trades  and  occu- 
pations, ready  to  put  his  hand  to  any  work  that 
would  help  on  the  gospel  cause. 

Writing  to  his  mother  at  the  close  of  1883  he  thus 
graphically  describe  the  location  of  the  village  and 
the  beautiful  surroundings  of  the  meeting  house; 
"Another  year  closes  and  1884  is  close  at  our  door. 
But  how  different  from  your  New  Year.  Here  I 
am  about  21  deg.  30  min.  No.  Lat.  in  a  fertile  nook» 
closed  in  by  the  eastern  spur  and  main  chain  of  the 
Rocky  mountains,  known  here  as  Sierra  Mad  re 
(Mother  Saw)  from  its  cerrated  summits.  The 
meeting  house  stands  on  a  little  plot  of  level  ground 
on  a  ridge  between  the  chains,  and  faces  the  most 
bold  and  precipitious  range  of  the  Sierra  Madre 
which  rises  before  it  at  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  ap- 
pears to  be  perpendicular,  although  at  an  angle  of 
possibly  70  deg.  from  the  horizontal  and  20.  deg. 
from  the  vertical.  Rising  from  the  yawning  abyss 
which  intervenes  like  a  wall  of  greeness  a  1000  ft. 
in  height,  where  all  along  bare  rocky  faces  project 
from  the  wall  amid  the  tangled  forest  of  trees 
bound  together  with  countless  vines." 

Through  all  these  busy  days  the  spiritual  needs 
of  the  people  were  not  forgotten;  for  a  little  later 
he  wrote  from  there  to  his  wife:  "We  have  had 
large  crowds  of  people  at  the  meetings,  and  such 
preaching  as  reached  the  heart  and  the  church  is 
being  greatly  built  up.  I  see  that  Gomez  Farias 
must  have  more  of  our  attention,  for  there  are 
many  talented  children  whose  unfolding  Hves  we- 
must  strive  to  direct  in  the  true  channel." 


152  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

In  this  letter  he  also  spoke  of  visiting  the  ruins 
of  two  ancient  cities,  which  lie  among  the  dense 
forests  which  line  the  banks  of  the  Guayalejo.  He 
says,  "I  could  not  collect  many  specimens  owing 
to  the  extent  of  the  ruins  and  the  dense  mat  of 
quapilla  which  covers  them  as  well  as  the  giant 
trees  which  for  centuries  have  stood  like  sentinels 
over  the  remains  of  a  forgotten  people,  probably 
the  Noahs  of  the  8th.  to  the  10th.   centuries. 

"We  left  Escandon  at  7:00  a,  m.  and  after  losing 
our  way,  reached  ElCelesti  at  noon  and  visited 
the  ruins  there,  barely  entering  a  short  way 
among  the  pyramids,  for  to  visit  them  all  would 
require  days  instead  of  hours. 

"  We  then  started  for  the  more  interesting  ruins 
some  three  miles  away,  at  a  ranch  near  them  we 
secured  a  guide  and  rode  on  horseback  through 
dense  thickets  and  mats  of  quapilla  some  half  an 
hour  ere  we  reached  the  principal  square.  I  had 
on  ^onjy  overalls  or  c/i(!yrt77-os,  and  thus  we  could 
walk  over  the  quapilla  and  visit  the  mounds  much 
faster  than  at  the  other  place.  The  idc  Is  had  been 
stolen  since  our  guide  was  last  there  two  years 
ago,  but  I  found  some  things  of  interest. 

Along  in  February  having  seen  the  completion 
•of  the  meeting  house,  he  once  more  turned  his 
face  homeward  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month 
after  an  absence  of  nearly  three  months,  he  was 
again  permitted  to  join  the  loved  ones  at  home, 
and  take  up  again  the  old  familiar  duties. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  153 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  HOME  WORK. 

I  saw  a  busy  toiler  bending  o'er  his  task,  with 
tongue  and  pen,  with  hand  and  brain  and  print- 
ing press,  heedless  of  wind  or  storm  or  torrid 
sun,  he  drove  right  on  scattering  seeds  of  truth 
o'er  all  the  land.  He  might  not  stay  to  see  the 
fruitage,  but  be  knew  the  soil  would  yield  a 
harvest  for  some  reaper  bye  and  bye. 

The  season  of  '84  was  productive  of  less  changes 
at  the  mission  than  some  previous  ones,  still  it 
brought  the  usual  variety  of  effort  and  incident. 

In  June  the  place  was  again  quarantined  against 
small-pox  at  other  ports,  just  then  a  large  printicg 
press  weighing  3,500  arrived  from  New  York;  it 
was  double  the  capacity  of  their  largest  former 
one;  the  work  of  mounting  it  and  getting  it  in  run- 
ning order  was  no  small  task. 

About  this  time  he  wrote  with  characteristic 
feeling  and  pathos  to  his  mother:  "I  often  think 
of  home  with  its  beauties,  attractions  and  social 
joys,  but  when  I  see  the  fruits  God  has  granted  to 
my  labors  in  his  service  in  this  land,  I  am  glad 
that  I  yielded  to  his  leadings  in  coming  and  re- 
maining here.  I  can  hardly  realize  that  father 
has  passed  80  years;  and  that  soon  after  this  reaches 
thee,  thou  will  reach  the  same  ripe  old  age.  How 
I  would  enjoy  being  with  you  on  so  memorable  a 
day.  May  we  ever  look  up  to  God  as  the  author 
of  aU  our  blessings  and  aim  to  live    daily  in  grate- 


154  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

ful  recognition  of  so  kind  a  Father  whose  gifts  and 
whose  chastenings  are  equally  worthy  of  our  most 
grateful  remembrance.  Now  may  God's  blessing 
abundantly  crown  thy  81st  year." 

This  summer  two  more  helpers  from  Indiana, 
Ora  Osborne  and  Lillie  Neiger,  arrived  and  stopped 
in  the  city  to  learn  the  language,  preparatory  to 
going  to  Soto  la  Marina  for  service  there.  The 
first  half  of  July  they  spent  by  the  sea- side  at 
Aqua  Dulce,  coming  home  refreshed  for  active 
work  in  the  pubhshing  house. 

In  October  he  wrote;  "A  new  house  with  a  fire- 
place in  each  room,  is  offered  to  us  quite  reason- 
able, so  we  shall  have  many  more  comforts  than 
we  do  in  this  one. 

"Our  schools  are  overflowing  and  we  have  refused 
about  twenty  boys  for  want  of  room.  Sabbath 
school  is  the  largest  we  ever  had  in  the  rainy  sea- 
son." 

Thus  with  a  constantly  increasing  demand  for 
their  publications  he  was  busy  at  hom.e  without 
special  changes  through  the  winter.  In  the  latter 
part  of  February,  making  another  trip  to  Gomez 
Farias,  to  encourage  the  work  there,  a  few  days 
after  his  arrival  on  his  42nd.  birthday,  March  5th, 
1885,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  as  follows:  "The  meet- 
ing house  here  is  very  pretty  and  the  members  are 
mostly  very  earnest.  We  have  had  meetings  every 
night  since  we  arrived,  the  attendance  and  interest 
still  increasing.  I  have  greatly  enjoyed  being  here 
and  I  trust  the  church  here  will  be  benefitted 
thereby.     The  attendance  last    night    was    about 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  155 

two  hundred.     In    the  recent  census,  some    500 
persons  gave  themselves  in  as    Protestants,  many 
of  whom  have  never  attended  meetings    but    have 
read  our  books.     This  shows  that    the    opposition 
has  nearly  ceased,  and  that  all  that  is  needed  here 
is  for  more  reapers  to  enter  in.    There  are    many 
small  things  needed  here  and  I  have  been  thinking 
that  we  had  best  come  in  July    instead  of  going  to 
the  seaside.     It  would  cost    but    little    more    and 
might  be  as  beneficial   to  health  and  much  more  to 
the  cause  of  Christ.    The  locusts  entered  this  vil- 
lage two  days  before  our  arrival.     "When  at  rest  on 
the  trees  they  can  be  seen  distinctly  at  a    distance 
of  three  miles,  and  when  in  flight  as  far    away    as 
the  densest  rain  cloud.     A  cloud    passed  over  our 
meeting  house  yard  yesterday.     They  move  like  a 
whirl  wind,  a  portion  stopping    to    feed    and    the 
others  passing  ahead  of  them,  when  these  rise  and 
pass  ahead  of  the  advance  guard  as    they    stop    to 
feed.     We  kept  them  from  hghting  in  the  yard.  In 
an  adjoining  yard  they  left  in  ten  minutes  nothing 
but  the  coarse  veins  of  the    leaves  of  a  large    tree. 
"They  did  but  little  damage  to   the  bananas.     The 
third  cloud  is  said  to   have  entered  the    valley  this 
morning" 

After  their  return  they  secured  a  lot  and  pre- 
pared to  build  a  Boarding  School  building  on  the 
same  square  and  nearly  in  front  of  their  meeting 
house  at  Matamoros.  On  June  1st,  they  had  con- 
tracted 100,000  bricks  and  one  third  were  on  the 
lot  ready  for  the  work  to  go  forward,  and  he  says, 
"This  will  keep  us  very  busy  this  summer,  as  soon 


156  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

as  this  is  done  we  must  build  a  building  for  a  Girl's 
day  school  at  Gomez  Farias." 

They  made  their  usual  trip  to  the  sea-side  in 
August.  Then  promptly  back  to  the  care  of  the 
office  and  the  building  operations  which  were  being 
pushed  vigorously  forward.  Writing  to  his  par- 
ents under  date  of  12th  month  20th,  1885,  he  speaks 
of  his  long  delay  by  rush  of  work  and  says:  "  Dur- 
ing the  past  six  months  we  have  completed  a  Board- 
ing School  scructure  at  an  outlay  of  over  $4,000  and 
the  chief  financial  care  and  oversight  has  been  a 
great  addition  to  the  usual  cares  and  attentions  of 
mission  life. 

Julia  L.  Ballenger  has  charge  of  the  educational 
department,  and  her  sister,  Laura  A.  Winston,  is 
to  be  matron  of  the  Institution.  She  and  her  daugh- 
ter Lonnie  are  to  come  with  Mahala  and  Juanita 
(whe  is  to  teach  the  third  grade)  and  are  probably 
now  in  New  Orleans  on  their  way  here.  Laura  A. 
Winston  was  a  school-mate  of  mine  in  the  Normal 
School  at  Springfield,  N.  C,  in  the  summer  of  1868. 
She  is  a  widow  and  her  girl  is  about  nine  years  of 
age."  "We  have  been  having  considerable  fighting 
today,  several  were  wounded — owing  to  elections. 
Last  First  day  a  ball  passed  over  my  head,  enter- 
ing the  transom  light  of  my  study  room  and  it 
would  have  kit  near  Gulielma's  head  in  our  sitting 
room  but  was  flattened  by  a  nail  in  the  partition 
and  bounded  back  over  my  study  room.  I  jump- 
ed out  of  my  room  into  the  printing  office  as  soon 
as  the  shot  was  fired,  as  a  drunken  man  on  horse- 
back had  the  muzzle  of  his  pistol  in  my  door,  though 


Gektrudis  G.  g.  de  ITkksti 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  157 

the  ball  was  fired  by  his  antagonist.  I  thought  it 
•was  getting  too  hot  in  that  corner  of  the  house,  so  I 
went  to  an  interior  room,  and  sat  down  by  the 
stove,  where  it  was  politically  cooler.  Our  neigh- 
bor across  the  street  was  a  candidate  for  office  and 
was  riding  about  the  streets  trying  to  gain  the 
cause  of  his  party  by  intimidation. 

"We  are  getting  ready  for  a  visit  to  the  southern 
missions  with  Mahala  Jay,  the  first  visit  from  a  fe- 
male minister. 

"We  shall  start  about  the  4th  of  next  month  and 
be  absent  nearly  two  months,  and  as  Gulielma  and 
Joseph  will  go  also,  we  shall  ride  in  our  ambulance 
and  probably  another  carriage  will  accompany  us 
with  a  Mexican  female  preacher,  Gertrudis  G.  G. 
de  Ureste,  who  is  now  in  this  city.  She  is  a  high- 
ly educated  lady  and  has  considerable  landed  prop- 
erty." 

We  do  not  find  any  memoranda  of  this  trip,  but 
it  must  have  been  fully  executed,  for  March  7th, 
having  been  home  two  days,  he  speaks  of  their 
weariness  from  1.000  miles  of  overland  travel  and 
two  weeks  of  the  return  journey  over  very  muddy 
roads  on  which  they  walked  a  great  deal.  They 
crossed  two  spurs  of  the  Rocky  mountains  on 
horseback,  though  he  usually  walked  behind  the 
horse,  while  Joseph  rode  a  little  donkey,  and  Guli- 
elma one  of  the  carriage  horses. 

He  was  ever  alive  to  the  wonders  of  nature  in  all 
her  moods  but  especially  so  to  the  nightly  display 
of  those  southern  skies,  so  on  writing  to  his  moth- 
er be  says:     "I  had  a  good  view  of    the    southern 


t58  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

cross,  of  the  bright  stars  of  Centaurus  and  other 
beauties  of  the  South  Polar  heavens." 

In  May  they  moved  to  a  very  long  house  on  Mat- 
amoros  street.  They  occupied  nine  rooms  on  the 
second  floor  and  enough  belov^  for  the  printing 
office  and  boys  school.  It  took  considerable  time 
to  get  the  printing  office  in  running  order  again, 
this  and  his  two  months  absence  reduced  very 
much  the  amount  of  work  done  in  the  printing  of- 
fice. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June  his  mother  passed 
from  earth  to  her  heavenly  home.  The  news  of 
her  death  reached  him  one  week  after  her  burial 
and  he  wrote  to  his  sister,  "A  meeting  of  all  our 
foreign  missionaries  and  most  of  our  native  mem- 
bers was  held  that  night,  and  was  a  tender  and  ed- 
ifying occasion,  both  the  sermons  of  Santiago  P. 
Gonzalez  and  W.  A.  Walls    were  very  instructive." 

They  took  as  usual  a  vacation  of  two  weeks  by 
the  seaside.  In  the  autumn  the  Missionary  Com- 
mittee gave  him  liberty  to  visit  Richmond,  Indiana, 
at  the  time  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  in  October  and 
return  at  their  expense,  so  he  decided  to  make  this 
brief  business  trip,  taking  time  of  course  to  look 
in  at  the  old  homestead,  but  to  sadly  miss  the  face 
of  the  sainted  mother. 

Straightening  up  as  far  as  possible  the  work  of 
the  office  about  the  middle  of  September,  1886,  he 
sailed  for  Galveston. 

He  had  long  hoped  to  have  the  privilege  in  pass- 
ing through  Kentucky,  of  visiting  the  mammoth 
cave,  but  he  wrote  his  wife  from  New  Orleans,    "I 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  159 

do  not  expect  to  visit  Mammoth  cave  as  my  ticket 
only  lets  me  stop  over  one  train  and  we  v^ill  reach 
Cave  City  at  11:30  p.  m.  or  near  midnight." 

The  hurricane  on  the  gulf  when  he  left  it  at  Gal- 
veston, gave  him  much  anxiety,  he  feared  the  mis- 
sion had  suffered. 

Writing  from  Richmond,  Indiana,  on  the  6th,  he 
says,  "Yearly  Meeting  closed  yesterday,  my  ap- 
pointments now  are  Cincinnati,  tomorrow;  Smyr- 
N.  Y.,  my  home  meeting  1st.  day,  10th;  New  York 
City,  17th;  Cincinnati  meeting  24th.  After  meet- 
ing of  Executive  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions 
on  the  25th,  shall  start  home  at  once  unless  mat- 
ters in  Matamoros  allow  me  to  attend  some  more 
of  the  Quarterly  Meetings  here." 

Thus  he  had  to  travel  nights  much  of  the  time  to 
meet  his  appointments,  had  but  a  few  days  at  the 
old  home,  a  few  days  to  call  on  all  the  friends  and 
relatives  in  North  Carolina.  Hurrying  back  to 
Richmond  by  the  25th,  for  his  final  advice  and  in- 
struction from  the  Committee,  he  made  a  brief 
stay  and  on  the  afternoon  of  the  27th,  left  for  Cin- 
cinnati on  his  return. 

Waiting  at  New  Orleans  for  a  steamer,  he  was  in 
the  city  over  the  Sabbath  and  visited  the  Bethel 
for  Sailors  and  spoke  to  them  for  a  short  time. 

The  next  to  his  sister  was  dated  "  Steamer  I.  C. 
Harris,  off  Lousiana  Coast,  ll-4-'86."  Once  more 
I  am  out  on  the  deep  blue  sea.  My  stay  in  New 
Orleans  was  a  very  pleasant  one  indeed,  I  never 
stayed  at  a  hotel  where  I  felt  so  much  at  home  as 
at  the 'Texas   House.'    They    refused    drunkards 


160  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

lodging,  even  for  money,  and  were  kind  and  soci- 
able indeed." 

He  wrote  again  off  Corpus  Christi  on  the  7th. 
"Yesterday  at  this  time,  11:00  a.  m.,  we  were  only 
thirty-five  miles  from  the  Harbor  of  Brazos,  Santi- 
ago, at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  now  we 
are  fully  120  miles.  A  furious  norther  has  obliged 
us  to  run  back  eighty-five  miles  to  the  leeward  of 
Mustang  Island."  And  adds  later  that  he  reach- 
ed home  en  the  evening  of  the  8th,  and  found  them 
all  well. 

Thus  in  a  few  weeks  of  great  activity  he  visited 
many  points  in  the  north,  saw  many  friends  of  the 
work  as  well  as  many  personal  friends  and  rela- 
tives. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE      161 


CHAPTER  XX. 


REMOVAL  TO  VICTORIA. 

Victoria, — Queen  of  the  Southland, 
Into  the  bosom  of  thy  orange  groves  we  fly, 
To  meet  the  sweetness  of  thy  love  and  care 
While  our  active  minds  and  busy  hands  shall  try 
To  bear  the  burdens  that  await  us  there. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  the  north,  small-pox 
broke  out  in  the  family,  Petra  having  it  first,  and 
•when  recovering  Joseph  was  taken  severely,  for 
three  weeks  he  was  in  bed,  and  took  no  food  for 
nine  days,  but  finally  recovered  and  soon  had  ex- 
cellent health.  Samuel  wrote  to  his  father  under 
date  of  January  31,  1887. 

"I  have  been  so  upset  with  small-pox  that  I  have 
answered  but  few  of  the  many  letters  I  have  re- 
ceived. We  have  had  no  frost  since  early  in 
Twelfth  month.  Our  banana  plants  suffered  very 
little  indeed.  And  our  other  tender  plants  look  as 
though  there  had  been  no  winter.  We  have  done 
more  work  this  winter  in  the  printing  office  than 
we  ever  did  in  any  previous  winter,  having  rooms 
which  can  be  duly  warmed  and  the  winter  so  very 
mild. 

"  Among  the  strange  events  of  the  past  few  weeks 
has  been  the  return  of  the  father  of  Frances,  who 
was  with  us  in  New  York.  He  left  home  three 
months  before  she  was  born  and  had  not  heard 
from  his  family  in  19  years  of  absence.     For  five 


162  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

years  after  leaving  he  kept  writing  to  his  wife,  but 
getting  no  answer  he  stopped  writing  ;  she  did  not 
receive  his  letters  and  thus  never  heard  from  him. 
He  is  well  oif  and  came  back  to  help  his  children, 
and  is  very  grateful  to  us  for  what  we  have  done 
for  Prances," 

Very  busy  in  the  office  while  at  home  and  doing 
much  correspondence  while  away,  we  hear  no  more 
from  him  until  on  a  trip  to  the  southern  mission, 
he  writes  his  sister  from  Victoria  on  April  22nd: 

"Expecting  to  stay  a  year  or  so  in  this  portion  of 
the  work  we  thought  best  to  come  prepared  to 
stay,  but  as  my  first  round  would  require  a  great 
deal  of  exposure  and  extra  travel,  we  rented  rooms 
in  this  city  for  one  month.  It  is  possible  that  we 
may  make  this  our  home  for  some  time  to  come. 
Luciano  Gonzalez  Gea,  who  was  at  San  Perando, 
has  gone  to  Santa  Barbara  to  take  charge  of  the 
work  there  in  place  of  L.  Mascoro. 

"  We  expected  to  locate  in  Tula  but  the  people 
here  are  very  desirous  that  we  should  make  this 
our  home,  and  we  are  not  certain  where  we  shall 
stay.  We  are  quite  contented  here,  for  we  believe 
it  is  the  place  of  duty  at  present.  We  were  12  miles 
south  of  the  Tropic  of  Cancer,  therefore  in  the 
Torrid  Zone.  Within  the  last  two  weeks  I  have 
been  high  enough  to  see  blackberries  in  bloom  in  a 
great  abundance  as  in  North  Carolina,  all  varieties 
of  timber  from  the  pine  and  cedar  to  the  orange 
and  palm.  Thus  I  have  been  within  a  few  days  in 
varieties  of  climate  as  different  as  from  Canada  to 
Florida. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  163 

"The  road  from  Tula  here  is  throuorh  a  deep  pass 
in  the  mountains  over  a  road  blasted  in  the  rocky 
ledges  and  cliffs.  The  alameda  in  this  city  is  the 
most  beautiful  ride  I  ever  saw.  It  is  a  street  lined 
on  each  side  with  sycamores  and  aquaca  trees.  On 
each  side  of  the  alameda  the  orange  gardens  form 
a  glow  of  greenness  at  this  season,  as  most  oranges 
are  about  one  inch  in  diameter  and  intensely  green 
just  like  the  leaves.  In  a  few  months  they  will 
glow  with  yellow.  The  acquacnte  is  a  vegetable 
butter  and  in  a  few  weeks  will  begin  to  ripen  and 
continue  all  the  year.  Sweet  potatoes  and  cab- 
bages are  very  cheap  here  and  there  is  much 
greater  variety  of  eatables  than  at  Matamoros. 
But  pine  apples  and  bananas,  except  some  of  the 
earliest  varieties,  did  not  thrive  there  on  account 
of  the  elevation,  making  it  a  triile  cooler  than  on  the 
lower  plains." 

His  next  to  his  father  was  from  Matamoros, 
dated  Sixth  month  12th,  his  father's  83rd  birthday 
of  which  he  congratulates  him  and  adds,  "lam 
here  on  a  visit  and  to  attend  to  some  office  work 
and  to  arrange  the  reinforcements  which  go  to 
strengthen  our  southern  mission. 

"Almost  every  nigh^  I  am  at  a  meeting  either 
here  or  in  Brownsville.  Have  been  much  favored 
in  the  ministry  on  this  visit,  and  to  a  great  extent 
am  more  free  from  the  pressing  cares  of  our  print- 
ing office,  to  which  Luciano  Mascoro  is  now  devot- 
ing his  principal  care." 

The  summer  passed  without  any  unusual  inci- 
dents to  record.     He  wrote  his  sister  in  November, 


164  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

"We  are  very  busy  in  school,  having  some  over  50 
pupils  enrolled  and  our  meetings  are  very  fully  at- 
tended and  very  interesting." 

Thus  he  felt  that  the  call  to  service  in  this  broad 
field  was  upon  him  and  he  gladly  responded.  Mak- 
ing frequent  trips  from  one  part  to  another  to  keep 
the  work  all  moving  successfully. 

On  January  28th,  1888,  he  wrote  to  his  sister 
from  Matamoros,  saying,  "I  reached  here  on  the 
night  of  the  24th,  very  wet  and  tired  from  travel- 
ing 120  miles  of  muddy  plains  in  a  misty  rain  Sh 
days  from  San  Fernando  here.  Margaretta  M. 
Marriage  will  be  here  on  the  next  steamer  and  I 
shall  leave  for  Victoria  about  the  9th  to  the  12th  of 
February." 

Later  he  wrote  from  Victoria:  "Margaretta 
seems  to  find  many  ways  in  which  to  be  useful, 
both  in  school  and  out  of  school,  and  is  unceasing 
in  her  efforts  to  care  for  Gulielma  who  has  been 
confined  to  her  bed  for  the  last  10  days  by  illness." 

Again  on  Seventh  month  Fourteenth  he  writes  to 
his  father  from  Matamoros,  saying:  "I  reached 
here  on  the  5th,  having  suffered  much  from  the  ex- 
treme heat  of  the  sun  on  my  journey  here.  We 
passed  one  entire  day  by  a  little  frog  pond  in  the 
center  of  an  immense  plain,  one  of  our  mules  hav- 
ing escaped.  It  is  probable  that  I  there  contracted 
chill  and  fever  of  a  very  severe  type.  I  had  such 
shakings  as  I  never  before  experienced,  but  hope 
they  have  left  for  good.  I  am  very  busy  rushing 
my  larger  Geography  through  the  press." 

The  year  1889  began  with  the  usual  routine  of 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  165 

duties  and  responsibilities,  which  kept  him  almost 
constantly  on  the  move  among  the  different  sta- 
tions. 

In  February  he  went  to  Matamoros  to  meet 
Murray  Shipley  and  wife,  of  Cincinnati,  who  were 
on  a  visit  to  their  missions,  and  whom  he  expeeted 
to  accompany  on  their  visit  possibly  as  far  as  Mex- 
ico City.  They  went  by  carriage  to  Victoria,  visit- 
ing the  various  stations  on  the  way  and  after  a  short 
stay  at  his  home,  left  on  March  7th,  and  visited  all 
the  stations  south  of  there  except  Santa  Barbary 
and  then  to  Tampico,  where  they  took  passage  on  a 
steamer  for  Vera  Cruz  on  the  22nd.  They  had 
rough  weather  through  the  night  and  the  next  day 
while  they  lay  at  anchor  off  Tuxpan,  waiting  for  it  to 
become  calm  enough  to  receive  passengers  safely. 
While  there  he  wrote  to  his  sister  and  said,  "that 
Guli  and  Joseph  were  just  leaving  for  Matamoros, 
en  route  to  North  Carolina,  while  he  should  not 
leave  Victoria  to  follow  until  June  ISth,  he  says, 
"  I  had  hoped  to  go  forward  much  earlier  but  the 
Foreign  Mission  Committee  did  not  think  that  I 
could  be  absent  so  long  at  this  time  without  serious 
injury  to  the  work  at  Victoria.  I  shall  feel  very 
lonely, — But  I  trust  God  will  keep  us  all  in  perfect 
peace  as  our  mind  are  stayed  on  him.  Among  the 
50  passengers  is  a  daughter  of  the  late  James 
Pascoa  of  Toluca,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  noted 
of  all  the  missionaries  in  Mexico.  He  died  at  Corn- 
wall, England.  She  is  now  returning  alone  to 
Mexico  to  carry  on  the  correspondence  whereby 
the  mission  can  continue  to  be  sustained." 


166  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

He  adds  on  the  25th : "  We  have  landed  at  Vera  Cruz 
and  leave  early  tomorrow  morning  for  Mexico." 

We  have  no  further  record  of  this  visit  to  Mexico, 
but  June  4th  he  was  in  Matamoros,  expecting  to 
leave  in  a  few  days  for  Victoria  to  attend  the  clos- 
ing exercises  of  their  schools. 

His  stay  there  could  not  have  been  long,  for  on 
July  20th,  he  was  again  at  Matamoros  confined  to 
his  bed  with  congestive  chills;  during  the  first  chill 
he  fell  in  a  fit  and  showed  no  signs  of  life  for  fully 
three  minutes.  He  says:  "Very  many  people  have 
died  in  these  fits  during  the  prevalence  of  the  pres- 
ent epidemic." 

A  telegram  from  Victoria  had  summoned  him 
there  to  look  after  some  difficulty  in  regard  to  the 
occupancy  of  the  house.  He  arrived  there  on  Au- 
gust 2nd,  and  was  able  to  soon  adjust  the  difficulty, 
and  they  soon  had  the  use  of  all  the  house  for  them- 
selves. On  August  6th  he  wrote:  "The  weather 
though  very  hot  at  noon-day  is  much  more  com- 
fortable than  at  Matamoros,  where  we  did  not  ever 
have  cool  nights.  Here  they  are  agreeably  cool 
and  pleasant." 

It  was  now  five  months  since  Gulielma  and  him- 
self parted  and  he  was  somewhat  lonely,  but  Mar- 
garette  and  the  girls  did  all  they  could  to  make  it 
pleasant  for  him,  in  which  they  must  have  suc- 
ceeded quite  well,  for  in  regard  to  it  he  wrote  to 
his  sister:  "On  the  whole  I  enjoy  myself  very  much 
better  than  at  Matamoros,  where,  when  I  was  sick 
my  housekeeper  was  a  dried  up  young  man  who 
smokes  worse  than  Popocatepetl" 


OF  SAMUEL  A.   PURDIE  167 

Near  the  last  of  the  month  he  again  started  for 
Matamoros,  arriving  on  September  6th  well  but 
tired,  having  ridden  on  horseback  300  miles  through 
deep  mud  in  less  than  eight  days,  sleeping  on  the 
damp  ground  several  nights,  with  heavy  dews  and 
light  rains.  An  experience  which  most  of  us  un- 
accustomed to  roughing  it,  would  consider  rather 
severe. 

Having  arranged  as  well  as  possible  for  his 
absence  he  prepared  to  start  on  the  10th  for  North 
Carolina,  the  Foreign  Mission  Committee  having 
granted  him  a  short  leave  of  absence. 

He  arrived  at  High  Point,  North  Carolina,  on  the 
14th,  and  attended  four  meetings  the  next  day. 
After  a  short  stay  with  his  wife  among  her  people, 
they  came  north  to  visit  the  old  home  and  the  dear 
ones  still  left  there. 

His  father  though  past  85  was  bright  and  active 
and  enjoyed  this  home  coming  very  much.  These 
meetings  when  loved  ones  long  separated  meet  to- 
gether in  social  converse  make  some  of  the  bright- 
est pictures  that  we  can  hang  on  memory's  wall. 

But  few  of  those  who  have  been  for  20  years 
away  from  the  old  hearth-stone,  have  had  such  wide 
and  varied  experiences  of  life  as  had  been  his. 

This  must  have  added  much  to  the  richness  of 
their  meetings.  Yet  he  could  spare  but  little  time 
for  enjoyment  at  the  old  home;  as  the  needs  of  the 
mission  fields  called  for  his  presence  at  some  of  the 
large  gatherings  of  Friends  in  several  states.  In 
addition  to  all  this  his  interest  in,  and  familiarity 
with  the  Spanish  Republic  of  the  South  drew  him 


166  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

to  the  Pan-American  Conference  at  Washington  in 
November,  where  he  acted  as  interpreter  for  some 
of  the  delegates. 

He  was  in  Baltimore  on  November  5th,  with 
Gulielma,  who  was  examined  by  a  council  of  physi- 
cians and  they  hoped  would  be  much  benefited; 
from  there  she  went  on  to  North  Carolina. 

Samuel  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  see  Pan- 
Americans  and  then  on  to  Washington  for  the  same 
purpose.  A  postal  to  his  father  dated  White  House, 
November  18th,  says:  "  I  am  here  with  B.  C.  Hobbs 
to  see  President  Harrison  about  an  interview  with 
Pan-American  Congress.  I  go  to  Pittsburgh  to- 
night and  back  to-morrow  night."  Another  on  the 
21st,  says:  " I  have  been  very  busy  here  though 
but  a  little  about  the  Spanish  American  Congress. 
I  have  been  to  Pittsburg,  then  back  to  Baltimore 
and  now  start  on  for  North  Carolina." 

Stopping  at  Centre  he  spent  a  week  visiting  old 
friends  and  had  a  fine  time,  especially  at  Jabez 
Hodgins',  where  he  made  his  home  so  long  while 
living  in  that  section.  Also  as  usual  dodging  about 
attending  meetings  at  Flint  Hill,  Marlboro,  Cedar 
Square  and  Centre  where  he  was  at  nine  meetings. 
Then  down  to  Back  Creek  for  a  few  days  among 
the  Hoovers,  in  that  circle  of  brothers  and  sisters 
the  time  must  have  passed  swiftly  rehearsing  the 
experiences  of  20  years  and  the  memories  of  the 
old  school  days. 

On  December  10th  they  were  at  High  Point  en 
route  for  New  Orleans  and  hoped  to  be  in  Mata- 
moros  in  about  a  week. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  169 

At  New  Orleans  while  waiting  for  the  steamer 
they  stopped  at  the  Texas  House  referred  to  in  a 
former  chapter,  and  found  it  as  then  a  very  pleas- 
ant homelike  boarding  house;  with  no  bar,  kept  by 
a  Scotch  woman  and  her  daughter,  who  was  very 
sociable  with  them. 

After  much  delay  they  finally  reached  Matamoros 
safely  and  writing  from  there  on  December  31st  to 
his  sister  he  says:  "We  are  pretty  fully  tired  out; 
but  as  the  horses  have  been  here  ever  since  the 
18th  waiting  for  us,  we  hope  to  start  on  the  2nd  of 
January  for  Victoria.  I  have  my  hands  pretty  full 
of  correspondence  and  hard  work  for  the  three 
days  stay  here  so  I  cannot  write  more." 

Thus  ended  three  months  of  almost  constant  ac- 
tivity, in  many  channels  while  perhaps  sometimes 
wearisome,  yet  full  of  pleasure  and  change,  so  in 
contrast  with  the  usual  routine  of  office  work  at  the 
mission,  that  it  must  have  been  to  him  a  season  of 
recreation  and  enjoyment. 

To  Gulielma  and  Joseph  who  spent  the  summer 
among  their  relatives  in  North  Carolina,  it  was  a 
long  wished  for  change. 


170        LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

FINANCIAL,  BURDEN. 

"Stand  like  an  anvil 

When  the  blows  of  stalwart  men 

Fall  thick  and  fast  " 

The  financial  care  of  the  mission  was  no  small 
part  of  the  responsibility  that  rested  on  him. 

On  April  21st,  1890,  he  wrote  his  sister:  "I  have 
been  usually  busy — unusually  anxious — suddenly 
placed  in  charge  of  over  $4,000  worth  of  purchases 
it  has  been  necesary  to  use  financial  tact  and  to  be 
sending  letters  and  telegrams  in  various  directions 
in  order  to  get  the  money  transferred  from  Cincin- 
nati here  via  New  York,  Matamoros  and  Monterey. 
Any  failure  to  do  so  would  be  fatal  to  my  credit 
here.  I  have  purchased  a  house  and  lot  for  our 
residence  where  our  Boys'  school  has  been  ever 
since  it  was  opened,  I  am  ready  to  buy  the  Board- 
ing School  premises  to-day  if  the  owner  comes  for- 
ward with  his  titles,  so  I  may  have  to  handle  to-day 
no  less  than  $3,700  in  Mexican  silver  dollars.  I 
shall  be  a  happy  man  when  all  the  purchases  are 
satisfactorily  arranged."  So  while  he  was  sole 
agent  for  a  base  of  supplies  more  than  1,000  miles 
away  he  honored  loyally  the  trust  placed  in  him, 
and  being  equal  to  the  occasion,  he  carried  on  the 
work  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Committee  and  the 
good  of  all. 

After  purchaaing  these  buildings  it  was  neces- 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  171 

sarj  to  make  some  change  and  additions  to  fit  them 
for  their  use,  so  they  had  a  very  busy  season  mak- 
ing repairs  on  them. 

On  July  4th.  he  wrote  his  father:  "We  are  build- 
ing additions  to  the  building  purchased  for  our 
residence  and  also  to  the  Girl's  School  building. 
We  have  four  masons  at  work  and  from  eight  to  16 
hands  working  and  carrying  mortar  and  stone  and 
several  ox- carts  with  two  yoke  of  oxen  and  three 
hands  each  bringing  stone  from  the  quarries. 

"The  work  goes  forward  rapidly  and  by  the  last 
of  this  month  we  hope  to  get  both  buildings  ready 
for  occupancy.  I  have  also  been  appointed  on  the 
Board  of  Examiners  of  the  Public  Schools  of 
this  city,  which  also  takes  a  large  share  of  my  at- 
tention. Of  course  we  are  tired  out  every  day  with 
so  much  stir  of  laborers  aside  from  our  very  large 
circle  of  visitors,  which  is  quite  a  tax  on  our  time 
and  on  our  physical  strength.  Yet  amid  all  tnese 
difficulties  we  are  enjoying  quite  comfortable 
health. 

Gulielma  has  been  much  stronger  this  summer 
than  for  several  years,  whether  owing  to  her  med- 
icine or  not  she  seemed  better  so  soon  as  we  had 
returned  to  this  genial  climate.  Though  some  of 
the  days  are  very  hot  the  nights  are  very  cool." 

Writing  a  month  later  to  his  sister:  "The  rail- 
road in  very  near  us  now,  the  work  goes  on  rapidly 
both  north  and  south  of  Victoria.  In  two  months 
we  hope  to  see  the  locomotive  arrive,  when  I  sup- 
pose there  will  be  quite  a  sensation  here.  I  never 
was  so  strong  as  this  summer,  I  have  been  rising 


172  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

at  5  A.  M.,  and  working  quite  hard  in  the  building 
work,  some  days  as  carpenter,  and  some  as  mason. 
This  active  hfe  seems  to  have  made  me  stronger. 
All  our  family  is  in  splendid  health  and  altogether 
we  are  getting  on  quite  well." 

Their  new  and  first  railroad  in  that  section  was 
the  Monterey  and  Gulf  railroad,  from  Monterey  to 
Tampico;  connecting  on  the  north  with  the  South 
Pacific  at  Spafford,  Texas.  It  reached  Victoria  and 
was  opened  there  on  October  4th,  1890,  "amid  the 
rejoicing  of  the  people." 

While  absent  from  home  in  November,  a  Friend 
from  Gomez  Farias  brought  him  50  cedar  boards, 
and  he  says,  "  I  shall  for  some  time  be  busy  making 
windows,  transoms,  etc,,  etc.,  and  benches  for  our 
meeting  room." 

Writing  again  to  his  sister  on  the  Twelfth  month 
Twenty-eighth  he  says:  "The  railroad  is  now  op- 
ened 75  miles  beyond  here  and  Margaretta  and  her 
mother  went  to  the  southern  mission  on  the  cars 
two  days  ago.  Mails  are  more  rapid  and  secure 
than  ever  before.  Sisal  grass  loaded  here  is  un- 
loaded in  New  York  city  without  change  of  cars.  I 
am  very  busy  indeed  owing  to  urgent  matters  con- 
nected with  the  settlement  of  the  estate  of  Dr. 
King,  late  Vice  Consul.  I  am  now  acting  Vice 
Consul  of  the  United  States  here.  There  are  sev- 
eral American  citizens  in  prison  whose  trials  I  have 
to  attend." 

Thus  we  see  he  became  known  to  the  public  as  a 
man  of  ability  and  education,  of  reliability  and 
trustworthiness,  which  fitted  him  to  fill  acceptably 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  173 

any  post  of  honor  or  responsibility  that  might  call 
for  an  occupant.  And  he  seldom  declined  an  op- 
portunity for  usefulness. 

With  the  beginning  of  1891  the  work  at  the  mis- 
sion was  moving  quietly,  they  were  enjoying  the 
tirst  fruits  of  their  garden  as  a  reward  for  the  care 
and  irrigation  which  made  it  flourish  through  a 
rainless  winter. 

Near  the  last  of  January  he  was  summoned  to 
Matamoros  by  telegram  to  meet  difficulties  in  con- 
nection with  the  Internal  revenue  tax;  the  result  of 
which  he  explained  a  little  later  in  a  letter  to  the 
writer,  who  comes  in  at  this  time  as  a  new  corre- 
spondent; and  a  word  in  regard  to  the  marner  of 
his  coming  may  not  be  out  of  place  in  this  narra- 
tive. 

Joseph  Knowles,  the  youngest  brother  of  the 
writer,  a  minister  in  the  Society  of  Friends  resid- 
ing ot  Smyrna,  N.  Y.,  an  old  friend  and  correspond- 
ent of  his  cousin  Samuel,  died  near  the  close  of 
1890,  and  a  short  time  later  the  writer  in  a  letter  to 
Samuel  gave  him  some  of  the  particulars  of  his 
death  and  burial.  The  letter  reached  Victoria  dur- 
ing Samuel's  absence  in  Matamoros,  and  soon  after 
his  return  he  replied  to  it. 

He  expressed  his  surprise  at  the  unexpected 
tidings  of  his  departure  to  the  "brighter  and  bet- 
ter land  of  eternal  joy  and  blessing,"  and  after 
words  of  hearty  sympathy  he  adds:  "The  special 
blessing  to  myself  came  with  great  force  'be  ye 
also  ready.'  " 

Some  opponents  of  their  work  at  Matamoros  had 


174  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

brought  forces  to  bear  that  threatened  to  cripple 
them  if  they  remained,  and  the  only  way  to  foil 
their  plans  and  save  themselves  from  future  trou- 
ble seemed  to  be  to  vacate  their  rooms  at  once  and 
remove  tne  business  to  Victoria.  So  shipping  their 
fastest  press  and  a  part  of  the  other  material  at 
once,  they  stored  the  remainder  in  a  room  adjoining 
the  school-room  of  W.  A.  Walls,  which  they  rented 
at  $4.00  per  month.  He  wrote,  "We  hope  to  sell 
our  old  type  at  Matamoros  and  buy  new  to  be 
freighted  direct  to  Victoria,  and  thus  the  renova- 
tion of  our  printing  materials  which  was  necessary 
at  this  juncture,  made  the  transfer  at  this  time 
very  desirable.  We  expect  a  new  teacher  for  our 
Girls' School  next  term.  Emma  Cavendish,  from 
North  Carolina,  a  cousin  of  Julia  L.  Ballenger,  who 
has  so  long  and  so  successfully  directed  Hussey 
school  at  Matamoros. 

"Emma  has  been  a  teacher  for  several  years  and 
is  the  widow  of  a  physician  and  a  very  successful 
nurse.  We  hope  she  will  be  a  valuable  addition  to 
our  force. 

"I  am  not  duly  appointed  Consular  Agent,  but 
have  been  acting  pro  tem.  by  appointment  of  Con- 
sul Richardson  of  Matamoros.  Appeals  for  my 
appointment  keep  being  sent  up  by  American  resi- 
dents here.  I  have  been  called  upon  by  the  judge 
every  time  an  American  was  arrested,  even  when 
we  had  a  Consular  Agent,  who  was  always  drunk, 
or  nearly  always.  I  cannot  escape  the  work  of  in- 
terpreter for  the  English  speaking  persons  in  pri- 
son, and  on  taking  the  benevolent  view,  do  not  wish 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  175 

to  avoid  it.  If  I  accept  j^ro  tern  an  appointment  as 
Consular  Agent  from  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment it  will  be  merely  as  an  act  of  kindness  to 
prisoners. 

It  is  not  a  salaried  office,  and  even  fees  will  be 
very  rare  indeed.  My  other  duties  press  me  to 
decline,  and  I  shall  surrender  as  soon  as  any  other 
person  will  accept." 

About  the  middle  of  April,  Joseph  was  taken 
with  typhoid  fever,  followed  a  httle  later  by  others 
of  the  household,  until  their  home  became  a  verita- 
ble hospital  for  a  time.  In  another  letter  to  the 
writer  on  June  1st,  he  says:  "I  am  just  convales- 
cent, able  to  be  about  the  room,  but  physically  the 
weakest  I  have  ever  been.  Seven  weeks  ago  Jos- 
eph was  taken  with  typhoid  fever.  He  was  in  bed 
40  days.  Only  a  few  days  after  he  was  taken,  one 
of  our  school  girls  from  Quintero  was  also  taken,  I 
followed  two  or  three  days  later,  then  a  sister  of 
the  other  boarder,  then  Gulielma  who  had  reso- 
lutely refused  to  go  to  bed,  and  was  caring  for  us, 
was  so  prostrated  as  to  be  placed  ih  a  more  painful 
and  critical  situation  than  any  of  us.  She  is  still 
very  sick,  but  hopeful  of  recovery.  One  of  our 
young  lady  teachers  has  light  symptoms,  but  as 
yet  not  entirely  confined  to  bed.  Thus  for  seven 
weeks  we  have  had  six  cases  in  our  house. 

"Two  young  lady  teachers  and  Petra  our  Indian 
girl,  have  been  our  caretakers  during  all  these 
weeks  of  sutfering  and  danger;  they  have  prepared 
our  food  and  administered  our  medicines,  have 
done  their  task  nobly,  affectionately,  sohcitously. 


176  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

"No  one  else  save  a  Baptist  minister  from  Colo- 
rado, formerly  from  Georgia,  who  has  watched 
with  us  two  niffhts  each  week.  Dr.  M.  C.  Cameron 
has  been  spending  nearly  half  his  time  by  our  bed- 
side during  the  worst  of  our  illness.  So  we  have 
been  wonderfully  cared  for. 

"We  are  all  about  the  room  except  Gulielma,  but 
but  very  weak  physically,  almost  a  group  of  living 
skeletons,  just  escaped,  to  use  the  words  of  Job, 
with  the  skin  of  our  teeth;  but  having  received 
many  mercies  and  spiritual  blessings  during  these 
severe  afflictions  and  trials  of  faith." 

On  June  12th,  he  wrote  to  remind  his  father  that 
it  was  his  87th  birthday,  and  says:  "It  has  been 
to  us  a  pleasant  day.  Joseph  was  up  about  the 
house  yesterday  and  again  to  day,  and  Gulielma 
able  to  sit  up  in  a  rocking  chair  a  little  while  this 
evening.  This  after  so  long  a  time  of  sickness  has 
been  quite  pleasant  to  all  of  us."  And  adds,  "lean 
say  very  little  about  the  religious  phases  of  our 
work.  We  have  had  an  unusual  great  sale  and  dis- 
tribution of  Bibles,  testaments  and  tracts."  A  few 
days  later  in  writing  to  his  sister  he  says:  "There 
have  been  quite  a  number  of  severe  discourage- 
ments in  our  work  within  the  past  few  months, 
while  on  the  other  hand  there  have  been  two  be- 
quests of  $1,000  each.  So  altogether  we  seem 
fore  d  for  a  while  longer  to  remain  in  the  field." 

The  public  authorities  seemed  to  appreciate  him 
in  the  various  duties  of  citizenship  and  especially 
in  educational  matters. 

In  writing  to  his  father  on  the  first  of  July  he 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  ill 

says:  *•!  am  a  member  of  the  board  of  exslm- 
iners  of  the  public  schools  and  the  examinations* 
begin  to-day.  I  hope,  however,  that  they  will  only" 
require  me  to  be  present  oil  the  days  when  geo- 
graphy, astYonomy,  philosophy,  and  other  such 
branches  are  examined,  as  I  am  chairman  of  the 
examiners  on  these  branches,  and  can  hardly  be 
excused." 

In  the  autumn,  at  the  yearly  meeting  at  Rich- 
mond, Indiana,  their  need  of  a  printing  oflice  was 
discussed,  and  it  was  decided  to  use  the  mission 
rooms  for  that  purpose,  and  build  a  residence 
adjoining  for  their  home,  and  the  Friends  were 
asked  for  $1,000  for  this  building.  Morris  White, 
of  Cincinnati,  and  Benjamin  Johnson,  of  Richmond, 
offered  $500  each  for  that  purpose. 

Thus  Samuel  had  liberty  at  once  to  begin  the 
gathering  of  material  for  the  structure. 

In  writing  to  his  cousin,  under  date  of  March  30, 
1892,  in  regard  to  the  building,  he  says:  "We 
have,  therefore,  been  very  busy  indeed.  It  is  a 
two-story  building  with  a  broad  balcony,  is  well 
ventilated  and  supplied  with  a  fire-place  on  first 
floor  and  stove  fixtures  on  second  floor.  We  hope 
to  have  it  ready  to  occupy  about  the  end  of  April. 
It  is  just  across  the  street  from  where  we  now  live. 
I  have  directed  all  the  carpenters'  work  myself, 
marking  every  cut  made  on  beams  or  planks  in  the 
whole  structure.  I  have  at  the  same  time  directed 
operations  in  the  printing  office,  where  Joseph, 
with  a  keen  eye  and  acute  perception  of  all  the 
matters  pertaining  to  printing,  has  relieved  me 


178  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

of  many  tiresome  duties.  I  hare  done  very  little 
translating,  however,  and.  in  this  line  have  very 
much  before  me. 

:  "At  Gomez  Farias  we  are  to  build  a  Missionary 
Rest,  a  two-story  building  of  pure  tropical  cedar, 
well-lighted  and  ventilated.  There  all  our  laborers 
will  be  allowed  to  rest  and  recruit  in  that  balmy 
air  and  beautiful  scenery.  A  woman  from  near 
Cincinnati  gave  a  bequest  of  $1,000  for  this  purpose, 
and  we  have  another  bequest  of  $1,000,  which  we 
hope  to  receive  this  summer. 

"  'Even  before  I  asked,  He  answered  me.'  Here 
are  $3,000  within  one  year,  and  all  outside  of  the 
regular  missionary  collections  and  appropriations. 
The  Lord  hath  blessed  us  exceedingly,  abundantly 
above  all  we  could  ask  or  think  in  temporal  and 
in  spiritual  matters.  There  are  evident  signs  of 
steady  progress,  and  whitening  fields  are  opening 
eivery  where, — even  Cuba  and  Venezuela  open  their 
doors  to  our  publications." 

■  <  Devoted  as  he  was  to  the  mission  work,  and 
counting  that  the  calling  and  purpose  of  his  life; 
yet,  his  versatile  mind  was  ever  alive  to  the  delights 
and  enjoyments  of  nature  in  the  cultivation  and  use 
of  the  wondrous  variety  of  vegetable  products, 
both  indigenous  and  adapted  to  that  tropical  clime. 

In  the  letter  just  quoted,  he  spoke  of  lemon  trees 
from  Guatemala,  guacos  from  the  West  Indies,  of 
South  Sea  oranges,  and  says:  "Of  grains,  I  am 
introducing  Kaffir  corn,  Egyptian  dhoura,  Aus- 
^tralian  ,  millet,  and  feosinte,  the  ..giant .  Central 
American  grass."     Equally  active  were  the  higher 


OF  .SAMUEL  A>  PURDIE  179 

attributes;  ei  beaqty,  sublimity  and  adoration,  ^aa 
shown  in  his  pbseryation^of  the  heavens  during  his 
nightly  vigils,  as  seen  in  his  letter  to  the  writer  of 
June  9th,  where,  after  speaking  of  the  difference  in 
climate,  be  says:  "We  bought  ripe  pears  yester- 
day from  Tula,  7,000  feet  above  the  sea.  Your 
dayaace  very  foueh  longer  than  ours  at  this  season. 
The  sun  js  nearing  our  zenith.  The  Southern  Cross 
reclines  at  dusk  on  pur  southern  horizon  and  soon 
disappears,  but  that  glistening  gem,  Alpha  Cen- 
tauri,  the  nearest  fixed  star,  almost  as  oright  as 
Sirius,  and  Beta,  scarcely  less  refulgent,  adorn  the 
southern  skj  until  past  bed-time." 

In  the  same,  he  adds :  "We  are  so  contented  in 
our  new  house  that  we  may  not  take  a  rest  in  the 
country  this  summer.  Most  of  next  month  I  shall 
have  to  be  in  the  city,  owing  to  my  appointment  on 
the  board  of  examiners  of  public  schools.  I  do  not 
feel  at  liberty  to  decline  a  position  which  familiar- 
izes the  pupils  of  the  schools  with  a  Protestant  and 
missionary.  Our  health  has  rarely  been  so  good 
as  now.  Our  meetings  are  larger  than  last  year 
and  an  awakening  ministry  feeds  the  flock." 

In  September  he  wrote  to  his  brother  William : 
"I  have  done  more  farming  the  past  year  than  ever 
before  since  I  came  to  Mexico.  Our  yard  extends 
through  from  10th  to  11th  streets,  giving  320  feet. 
I  planted  dhoura  or  Egyptian  corn  as  the  principal 
grain  aad  never  saw  such  a  yield.  In  extreme 
cases  one  grain  produced  7,000  in  six  months  from 
the  same  roots." 
A:Again,,ott  January  r^2,  1893,  he  wrote  bis  cousin, 


180  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

Baying:^  "Yesterday  I  received  possesaion  of  a 
country  residence,  purchased  with  my  own  money. 
We  expect  to  spend  seventh  day  there  mostly  every 
week  as  a  relaxation  from  the  constant  mental 
strain  of  editorial  labor  and  the  confined  and  deter- 
iorated air  of  city  life.  It  lies  inside  the  city  limit, 
but  ontside  the  city  proper,  on  the  great  road  to 
Tula,  and  is  near  the  north  bank  of  the  San  Marcos 
river.  I  purchased  at  less  than  hall  the  cost,  and  I 
might  say,  at  less  than  half  its  value.  It  has  a 
house  48x20  feet,  of  adobe,  on  a  stone  base  a  yard 
high  above  the  ground  with  porches  full  length, 
front  and  rear.  The  fields,  about  75x800  feet,  are 
enclosed  by  high  stone  walls.  I  bought  it  in  good 
condition  for  $200.  I  rarely  see  any  of  my  own 
money,  result  of  my  earnings  ere  coming  to  Mexico, 
and  am  well  satisfied  with  its  investment  here." 

"The  mission  work  is  more  active  and  encourag- 
ing than  it  was  a  few  months  past.  I  made  an  ex- 
tensive tour  since  Christmas,  and  hope  to  spend 
most  of  next  month  among  the  mountain  villages 
south  of  the  city." 

He  would  have  enjoyed  a  trip  to  the  Columbian 
Exposition  in  1893  and  especially  the  Peace  Con 
gress  in  the  autumn,  but  expense  and  the  pressure 
of  home  work  forbade  it.  In  another  letter  to  the 
writer  on  July  2nd,  he  says,  "  We  are  expecting 
some  missionaries  next  fall.  W.  Irving  Kelsey  and 
wife  who  are  to  be  married  on  July  12th  and  come 
in  the  fall.  Once  they  be<;x>iae  familiar  with  the 
work  it  is  quite  possible  that  I  may  be  able  to  be 
absent,  from  this  field  a  longer  time  than  hiereto- 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIB  X81 

fore.  At  present  I  can  hardly  be  absent  over  three 
weeks  at  a  time,  for  the  last  week  of  each  month 
our  paper  leaves  the  press  and  the  editor  has  to  be 
present. 

"  I  am  just  back  from  Matamoros,  having  been 
absent  a  little  over  three  weeks  and  quite  unwell 
for  a  week  after  my  return. 

''Over  600  miles  on  horseback  was  a  fatiguing 
ride,  and  the  return  journey  was  through  contin- 
uous rains,  muddy  roads,  flooded  streams  and  con- 
stant exposure.  I  was  five  days  going — nine  days 
returning.  Juanita  is  still  there  but  is  to  go  north 
in  the  fall  to  marry  Prof.  R.  S.  Garwood  who  is 
teaching  in  a  High  School  at  Marshall,  Mich.  And 
she  has  no  prospect  of  returning  to  Mexico. 

"It  is  now  vacation  of  our  own  and  the  public 
schools, — but  the  examination  of  the  latter  will  take 
a  large  share  of  my  time  during  July,  as  I  am  on 
tne  Board  of  Examiners  in  both  public  and  normal 
schools  in  Geograpy  and  Geometry  as  well  as  of 
English  Classes." 

Thus  the  month  and  the  year  flew  by,  with  always 
an  abundance  of  office  work  and  now  it  seems  he 
he  had  forced  upon  him  the  opportunity  at  least 
for  considerable  gratuitous  public  work. 

Added  to  all  this  he  had  the  burden  of  St.  Paul, 
the  care  of  all  the  churches. 


182  LIFE  AND  LEnTERS 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  SECOND  VISIT  OF  ISAAC  SHARP. 

"LIFE, — A  golden  opportunity   for   service   but    ■ 
when  alloyed  with  base  metal  a  worthless   counter- 
feit of  the, genuine  coin." 

Soon  after  the  advent  of  1894  the  old  En^ish 
Friend,  Isaac  Sharp,  who  visited  him  some  ten 
years  before  now  on  his  second  tour  around  the 
•world  arrived  at  Victoria  and  a  second  time  accept- 
ed their  hospitality  and  Samuel's  company  and  ser- 
vices in  visiting  the  various  stations  of  the  Friends 
Mexican  Mission. 

In  a  letter  to  the  writer,  under  date  of  February 
24th,  1904,  he  wrote:  "I  accompanied  Isaac  Sharp 
for  three  weeks  including  the  visit  to  Matehuala, 
where  we  saw  Margaretta  Marriage  and  her  Mex- 
ical  husband,  who  has  a  very  good  command  of  the 
Englsh  language  but  hardly  enough  to  interpret 
well  enough  for  Isaac  Sharp,  who  is  accustomed  to 
speak  through  able  interpreters.  His  sentences 
often  include  20  to  25  words  and  it  requires  memory 
enough  with  out  mental  wear  in  translating  to  re- 
organize his  sentences.  In  several  meetngs  I  bad 
to  interpret  to  him  the  discourses  of  others  and 
write  down  the  prayers  for  him  to  take  with  him 
as  mementoes.  We  have  some  very  eloquent  speak- 
ers among  our  native  workers.  It  is  to  me  quite 
difficult  to  translate  from  Spanish  to  English,  all 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  183 

my  work  for  23  j^ears  having  been  in  the  opposite 
direction. 

"We  celebrated  our  silver  wedding  on  the  15th, 
at  our  country  house  (Bethesda)  with  a  picnic  and 
dinner.  At  the  request  of  Isaac  Sharp  two  mem- 
orial trees  were  planted,  one  a  dwarf  Japanese 
orange  and  the  other  a  Brazilian  Cherry  tree.  We 
also  planted  four  Surinam  Cherry  tree,  the  same 
day. 

"These  trees  belong  to  the  Clove  family  (genus 
"Eugenio")  like  the  Rose  Apple  of  Hindostan  arid 
are  beautiful  tropical  evergreens. 

"Without  being  a  vegetarian,  my  preference  has 
all  along  been  human  flesh  v.  s.  patchwork. 
What  I  mean  is  that  human  flesh  from  vegetable 
food  is  preferable  to  rebuilding  from  animal  food, 
or  working  over  animal  flesh  into  human  flesh.  I 
was  always  passionately  fond  of  fruits,  and  one  of 
my  joys  here  is  that  we  are  in  a  fruit  region," 

"Of  the  banana  I  have  imported  two  varieties  and 
W.  I.  Kelsey  two  others  and  I  have  five  native  or 
cultivated  varieties.  Fried  bananas  are  my  pet 
food  in  the  hot  region. — 

"Amid  the  isolation  of  Foreign  Mission  life,  we 
have  many  blessings  and  seasons  of  religious 
rejoicing  at  the  evident  presence  and  help  of  the 
Lord." 

Near  the  close  of  1894  he  began  an  intended  visi- 
tation of  the  mission  field  which  he  graphically  de- 
scribed in  a  letter  to  the  writer  dated  Victoria, 
March  13th,  1895.  "I  have  since  December  20'th 
traveled  on  horse  back  fully  1000  miles, — holditig 


,164  ,.  LIFE  AllJD  LETTERS 

meetings  from  the  Rio  Grande  to  the  south  line  of 
Tanaaulipas.  I  have  seen  more  evident  religious 
interest  than  on  any  preceding  journey.  At  Mat- 
^maras  and  vicinity  we  held  (S.  G.  Gonzalez  and 
myself)  14  public  meetings  in  10  days  time,  with 
encouraging  results.  Of  course  I  am  pretty  fully 
tired  out  by  the  recent  ride  of  600  miles  to  Mata- 
moras  and  return,  from  which  we  arrived  at  10  A. 
M.  yesterday.  The  horses  were  perhaps  more  so 
than  ourselves.  Thou  wilt  have  heard  ere  this  of 
the  dire  calamity  caused  by  the  blizzard  of  Febru- 
ary 10th  to  16th,  dying  out  in  this  section.  The 
thermometer  stood  for  several  days  at  20  degrees 
above  zero, — killing  many  varieties  of  tropical  fruit 
trees  to  the  surface  of  the  earth, — our  beautiful 
grove  of  Custard  Apple  trees  is  completely  blotted 
out, 

"We  were  on  our  journey  being  caught  by  the 
snow  storm  the  second  night  from  home.  The 
sight  of  the  Sierras  of  San  Carlos  and  Cruillas  cov- 
ered in  banks  of  snow  reminded  one  of  New  York. 
Snow  fell  as  far  south  as  Tampico,  and  frost  killed 
the  coffee  trees  much  farther  south.  At  San  Fer- 
nando over  a  foot  of  snow  fell  on  the  level  and  banks 
five  feet  deep  were  formed. 

"The  amount  of  cattle,  horses,  sheep  and  goats 
frozen  to  death  was  appalling.  At  one  ranch  where 
we  stopped  they  had  lost  1600  head  of  sheep  and 
goats  during  the  snow.  After  four  years  of  drought 
the  covering  of  the  ground  with  snow  for  two  days 
was  sufficient  to  kill  sheep  and  goats  and  do  very 
much  damage  to  larger  stock. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  185 

.  "The  fall  of  snow  wj^s  unparalleled  in  history 
or  tradition  and  the  cold  fully  equalled  the  mem- 
orable freeze  of  1857.  We  passed  during  the  15th 
of  February  the  table  land  of  Solis  and  from  there 
icould  see  snow  far  beyond  the  Tropic  of  Cancer. 
There  will  probably  be  no  fruit  this  year  of  any 
kind  except  grapes.  Our  Custard  apples  had  grown 
up  since  the  sleet  storm  of  1886  and  last  year  had 
fruit  on  them  for  five  months  in  succession. 

"I  have  however  not  suffered  so  heavily  as  I  had 
anticipated.  Orange  and  lemon  trees  well  require 
a  year  to  replace  what  they  have  lest,  banana  and 
pineapples  will  be  18  months  in  reaching  fruit  time 
again. 

"At  Gomez  Farias  the  coffee  crop  this  year  will 
be  lost,  but  the  trees  will  recover  before  next  win- 
ter. I  am  to  be  at  Toluca  near  Mexico  City  the  3d, 
4th  and  5th  of  April,  it  is  expected  that  100  mis- 
sionaries will  be  present  and  Moodyand  Sankey 
are  to  be  among  the  prominent  workers." 

While  resting  after  his  long  journeys  he  improved 
the  time  in  replying  to  letters  received  from  his 
friends  at  the  north. 

He  wrote  to  his  sister  Lucinda,  March  16th: 
"Thy  letter  of  the  3d  inst.  came  during  my  ab- 
sence at  Matamoras  on  that  day  I  taught  a  class 
of  young  ladies  in  Sabbath  school  at  9  a.  m.,  preach- 
ed in  English  at  11  a.  m.  to  missionaries,  was  at 
meeting  at  4  p.  m.  at  our  meeting  house  and  preach- 
ed at  the  Presbyterian  meeting  house  at  Browns- 
ville at  7:30  p.  m.  Santiago  G.  Gonzalez  preached 
at  the  same  hour  in  the  Presbyterian  church  at 


l^  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

Matamoras.  During  our  return  on  my  birthday  I 
rode  66  English  miles  on  horseback. 

"There  is  much  small  pox  here  now.  We  hare 
rented  our  country  house  to  the  city  for  a  small* 
pox  hospital  with  a  view  to  saving  the  city  from  its 
severest  ravages." 

In  writing  to  his  brother  on  the  22nd,  he  repeats 
much  of  his  recent  experience  just  narrated  and 
also  says  "I  bought  a  marine  telescope  at  Mata* 
moras,  and  since  my  return,  Joseph  has  been  very 
busy  studying  the  moons  of  Jupiter,  all  four  with 
their  daily  changes  of  position  being  clearly  dis- 
tinguishable, making  every  night  a  new  scene. 
The  rings  of  Saturn  and  one  or  two  moons  are 
visible,  but  as  it  rises  here  at  9:40  p.  m.  we  have 
not  been  able  to  study  it  enough  to  eliminate  all 
fixed  stars  from  the  moons;  but  as  Titan,  its  fourth 
moon  is  much  larger  than  Mars,  and  its  farthest 
2,000,000  miles  from  the  planet  we  hope  to  have 
some  interest  in  studying  their  movements." 

We  shall  very  naturally  conclude  that  he  was  a 
close  partner  with  Joseph  in  this  study  as  well  as 
an  interesting  teacher  to  the  young  student. 

With  a  clearness  of  vision  that  looked  through 
nature  up  to  Nature's  God,  he  found  something  on 
the  earth  below  by  day,  and  in  the  heavens  above 
by  night  to  interest  and  instruct  himiself  and  those 
around  him,  for  his  active  mind  and  trained  eye 
•were  never  idle  during  his  waking  moments. 


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OF  SAMUEL  A.  PIJRDIE  187 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  COTIFERENCK  AT   TOLUCA. 

"I  know  not  where  His  islands  lift 

Their  fronded  palms  in  air 

I  only  know  I  cannot  drift 

Beyond  His  love  and  care."        Whittier. 

The  very  interesting  letter  to  the  writer  quoted 
from  so  largely  in  the  last  chapter  was  duly  re- 
ceived and  promptly  replied  to  with  the  expecta- 
tion of  drawing  from  him  on  his  return  some  ac- 
count of  his  very  interesting  trip  southward  which 
was  anticipated  in  that  letter.  In  this  the  writer 
was  not  disappointed  as  will  be  seen  by  the  follow- 
ing under  date  of  April  17th,  1895. 
Dear  Cousin: — 

Thy  very  interesting  letter  was  at  hand  on  my 
arrival  from  the  Conference  at  Toluca.  We  had  a 
most  wonderful  time,  not  only  from  the  presence 
of  Moody  and  Sankey  but  more  especially  from  the 
manifest  presence  of  the  Holy  Spitit.  There  were 
gathered  129  missionaries,  representing  twelve  de- 
nominations, all"  with  one  accord  in  one  place"  and 
the  acknowledgement  from  above  was  the  full 
measure  of  all  that  the  most  sanguine  had  antici- 
pated. 

The  scenery  about  Toluca  is  very  beautiful,  es- 
pecially the'  snow  clad  Volcano  of  Nevado,  over 
16,000  feet  high,  from  the  summit  of  which  both  the 
Pacific  Ocean  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  can  be  seen. 


2188  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

Jersey  cattle  are  abundant  and  in  clover;  pansies 
are  blooming  in  a  profusion,  I  had  never  before 
seen  in  any  part  of  the  Continent. 

Numerous  vilages  were  scattered  here  and  there 
amid  the  niountain  valleys.  I  took  quite  an  active 
part  in  both  the  English  and  Spanish  exercises  of 
the  Conference — in  the  latter  I  vras  one  of  the 
group  of  participants  on  the  stage  at  the  Theatre 
one  of  the  two  nights  we  occupied  that  building, 
no  other  one  being  able  to  hold  the  people.  The 
governor  sent  us  all  kinds  of  congratulations 
every  day  and  a  beautiful  keepsake  as  a  memento 
of  his  interest  in  our  work. 

From  Toluca  I  decided  to  accompany  Moody  and 
Sankey  to  Mexico  City,  thus  giving  Joseph  who 
was  with  me,  an  opportunity  to  see  the  Valley  of 
Mexico,  the  city  and  surroundings  especially. 

The  scenery  between  Toluca  and  Mexico  is 
grand.  As  we  passed  the  Great  Divide  between 
the  Pacific  and  Atlantic  slopes,  Sankey  led  about 
thirty  missionaries  in  singing  a  long  meter  doxol- 
ogy.  Soon  after  we  caught  sight  of  the  snow  peak 
of  Istaccihuatl,  and  later  as  we  neared  Mexico 
hard  to  our  right  Popocatepetl  shone  forth  in 
beauty,  with  a  4000  feet  cap  of  snow.  Its  total 
height  17,000  feet  above  the  sea. 

Meetings  were  held  in  English  twice  each  day  by 
Moody  and  Sankey  at  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  in  Spanish  by  Father  Marchand,  a 
converted  French  Priest  from  New  Mexico  at  the 
Presbyterian  church  near  the  same  part  of  the 
city. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  180 

We  Tisited  the  Cathedral,  the  foarth  largest 
boilding  in  the  world;  the  hill  of  Tepeyac  where 
the  virgin  Mary,  of  Quadalupe,  appeared  to  the 
Indian  Joan  Diego;  the  National  Museum  full  of 
anttquities;  the  Stone  of  Sacrifice  with  its  bloody 
reminiscencfts;  the  famous  Azetes  Calendai  made 
by  order  of  AhuizOtl  in  1471,  the  most  remarkable 
thing  of  the  kind  in  all  the  world.  How  this  stone 
weighing  48,200  pounds  could  have  been  trans- 
ported across  the  the  marshes  and  lakes  of  the 
valley  is  a  problem  never  to  be  solved.  We  alsd 
visited  the  Art  Gallery  with  its  paintings  and 
sculptures  and  chapult«pec  with  its  palace  and  its 
giant  Cyprus  trees  festoned  with  mosses. 

Joseph  suddenly  became  very  anxious  about  his 
mother,  in  which  I  participated  and  we  hastily  left 
for  home  and  learned  that  the  day  we  left  they  had 
tried  to  devise  some  plan  to  reach  us  by  a  telegram, 
the  illness  of  my  wife  having  become  alarmiag, 

We  made  the  distance  from  Mexico  to  Victoria, 
about  1200  miles  in  just  48  hours,  finding  Gulielma 
a  little  better." 


tSa  ;,LIPE  AND  t£TTERS 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   NORTHLAND. 
'  'Home,   sweet  home, 
Be  it  ever  so  humble, 
There  is  no  place  like  home." 

W.  I.  Kelsey  had  been  with  them-lonjr  enough  to 
become  familiar  with  the  work  and  the  needs  of 
the  mission  station  and  beinj?  a  good  scholar  and 
translator,  he  was  also  competent  to  take  charge 
of  the  publishing  business  and  thus  Samuel  felt  at 
liberty  to  plan  for  an  extended  journey  north  and 
had  at  times  as  yet  indefinite  and  uncertain 
theories  in  regard  to  his  future.  He  had  in  the 
years  past  occasionally  expressed  a  desire  to  ex- 
tend the  work  of  the  mission  southward  including 
perhaps  the  Central  American  Republics,  and  the 
trend  of  events  soon  led  to  the  fultiUing  of  tnose 
day  dreams. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May  1895  he  came  with  his 
family  to  North  Carolina  and  passed  a  very  inter- 
esting time  among  the  familiar  scenes  of  his  school 
days,  meeting  many  of  his  former  pupils,  and  other 
dear  friends,  while  not  a  few  were  missed  from 
the  places  they  once  filled  in  the  home  circles 
where  he  was  then  a  welcome  guest. 

Leaving  Gulielma  and  Joseph  among  her  people, 
he  went  north  visiting  the  meetings  in  the  interest 
of  the  mission  work,  and  going  to  the  old  home  he 
once  more  greeted  his  brothers  and  sisters  (the 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  191 

parents  now  both  gone)  one  of  those  blessed  privi- 
leges, which  when  once  experienced  are  long  re- 
membered. 

Coming  to  Smyrna  to  see  his  Aunt  Marian  then 
eighty-one  years  old  (now  still  active  in  her 
ninty-fifth  year,)  and  his  numerous  cousins;  and 
spending  a  few  days  with  the  writer.  And  now  at 
the  age  of  fifty-two  the  mirthful  bouyancy  of  his 
spirits,  had  the  freshness  and  animation  of  youth 
and  in  mental  vigor  and  clearness  he  was  at  his 
zenith. 

It  was  a  pleasure  to  note  the  wondrous  change, 
the  marvelous  development  of  the  individual  from 
the  shy,  akward,  bashful,  backwoods  boy,  who 
served  at  times  as  a  butt  for  ridicule  by  the  vul- 
gar, to  the  affable  cultured  gentleman,  the  peer 
of  the  foremost  in  the  land;  ready  to  meet  with 
courtesy  and  freedom  any  and  all  who  came  in  his 
way. 

Going  back  to  his  old  home,  for  a  few  days,  and 
bidding  farewell  to  his  numerous  cousins  of  How- 
ard descent  on  Nov.  2,  1895  he  gave  the  last  linger- 
ing look  behind  at  the  old  homestead  and  started 
for  the  west,  visiting  the  Friends  at  Richmond  and 
other  pomts  in  the  interest  ot  the  mission  work, 
and  finally  surrendering  the  position  which  he  had 
held  so  long  with  faithful,  loving  loyalty,  to  W. 
Irving  Kelsey  now  in  the  Qeld  and  conducting  the 
w;ork..     ....    ,         _     ,.„  ..'.'.^  .  .,.'..,',.„ 

,  This  lifted,  from  his  shoulders  a  burden  which 
they  had  borne.trlumphantly  not  only  to  Victoria 
but  to  victory,  over  Roman  opposition  and    the 


192  LIFE  AND  LffTTERS 

prejudice  of  ignoraiice,  until  the  publications  of 
the  mission  were  a  necessity  in  the  schools  of 
many  lands. 

It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  he  retired  from 
the  Mexican  mission  field  without  feelings  of  re- 
gret and  sadness.  For  to  it  he  had  given  the  best 
years  of  his  manhood,  had  surrendered  the  asso- 
ciations of  friends  and  kindred,  which  made  dear 
the  memory  of  his  early  home,  had  been  exposed 
to  war,  to  tornadoes,  to  scourges  of  yellow  fever 
and  small-pox,  and  through  it  all  had  never  faltered, 
never  neglected  for  a  day  the  post  of  duty;  and 
still  greater  courage  was  called  forth  at  times  to 
meet  the  opposition  and  persecution  of  the 
ignorant  and  prejudiced  enemies  of  the  work. 

The  advent  of  the  year  1896  found  him  spending 
his  vacation  with  his  friends  in  North  Carolinia  and 
following  up  his  former  leadings  toward  the  needs 
of  Central  America  and  knowing  of  the  Central 
American  Mission  now  started  in  that  field  he  open- 
ed communication  with  its  leaders. 

An  undenominational  work  supported  by  volun- 
tary contributions,  and  carried  forward  by  unsal- 
aried volunteers  in  the  field  only  the  most  conse- 
crated and  devoted  of  workers  sought  or  accepted 
the  service  of  self-sacrifice  which  this  mission  held 
out  to  those  who  came  to  its  open  doors. 

On  Jan.  23  he  addressed  the  writer  as  follows: 
"I  have  been  so  very  uncertain  as  to  my  future 
movements  that  I  have  not  written  to  thee  since  I 
last  was  at  thy  house  in  October,  I  suppose  that  a 
full  description  of  my  leadings  toward  work  in  San 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE 


Salvador  will  soon  appear  in  the  Amerian  Friend^, 
hence  I  shall  not  detail  it  here.  On  the  11th  inst 
I  was  appointed  missionary  by  the  Central  Ameri' 
can  Mission  (Evangelical  Undenominational)  for 
Salvador  and  Honduras.  They  had  been  praying 
for  some  one  for  those  countries  and  consider  me 
as  an  answer  to  their  prayers.  Whilst  I  might 
have  preferred  to  go  out  under  Friends,  quite  a 
number  of  very  dear  Friends  have  approved  my  ac- 
tion, which  seemed  to  be  the  only  alternative  where- 
by I  could  go  to  those  countries,  and  I  trust  he  who 
leadeth  his  own  sheep  tvill  go  before  us. 

As  he  learned  of  the  situation  and  its  needs  and 
decided  to  cast  his  lot  with  them,  he  was  drawn 
out  in  spirit  with  its  promoters  to  pray  for 
financial  aid  necessary  to  defray  the  expense  oi 
the  journey  there  and  to  meet  their  future  needs. 

The  treasurer  of  the  society  was  Hon.  D,  H. 
Scott,  of  Paris,  Tex.,  and  it  was  here  that  the  C. 
A.  Bulletin  was  issued  quarterly. 

In  the  number  for  April  15th,  we  find  this  com- 
munication from  Samuel: 

"Post  Oak,  N.  C,  March  2,  1896. 

I  am  happy  to  announce  to  you  that  the  Lx)rd 
has  answered  our  definite  prayers  for  means  to  go 
to  Salvador.  I  am  just  in  receipt  of  a  letter  from 
Ettington,  near  Stratford  upon  the  Avon,  England, 
enclosing  50  pounds  toward  our  journey,  complet- 
ing expenses.  We  must  thank  God  and  ask  him  to 
give  us  in  Central  America  an  active  church,  an 
evangelical  ministry  and  a  sanctified  press,  and 
means  to  carry  this  work  forward  to  His  honor.     I 


194  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

believe  God  has  greater  plans  for  Central  America 
than  we  have  dared  to  ask  Him  to  grant  us.  How 
He  has  already  opened  the  windows  of  heaven  and 
poured  us  out  a  blessing  to  over  flowing. 

This  donation  it  seems  opened  the  way  for  him 
to  start  to  the  field  about  the  middle  of  March, 
he  bade  adieu  to  Gulielma  and  Joseph  and  his  num- 
erous friends  in  North  Carolina,  he  went  by  way 
of  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  and  across  Arkansas 
on  the  St.  Louis  and  Iron  Mountain  R.  R.  to  Tex- 
arkana. 

Not  every  missionary  would  be  willing  to  take  a 
second  class  ticket  to  help  the  funds  of  the 
Association;  but  he  wrote  his  wife  "I  found 
many  kind  friends  on  the  cars;  many  were  immi- 
grants and  had  families  and  one  family  from  Tenn- 
essee showed  us  special  kindness.  I  found  the 
second  class  passage  gave  me  about  as  good  com- 
pany as  I  ever  had  on  the  cars  and  not  much  smok- 
ing. A  part  of  the  way  we  had  reclining  parlor 
car  chairs,  as  there  was  not  room  enough  in  the 
second  class  car." 

He  arrived  at  Paris,  Texas,  on  the  20th  and  was 
met  at  the  station  by  Rev.  Luther  Rees  and  wife, 
who  brought  him  to  Judge  Scott's  house,  where 
they  had  a  pleasant  gathering  of  people  and  a  ser- 
vice of  song  and  prayer.  He  stayed  with  them 
over  the  Sabbath  preaching  in  the  A.  M.  at  the 
Congregational  church  to  a  large  and  attentive 
audience,  in  the  P.  M.  he  preached  in  the  jail  to 
over  200  prisoners,  Luther  Rees  and  wife  and 
daughter  were  with  him  and  sang  and  the  service 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  195 

•was  well  received  by  them  in  their  confinement, 
and  lecturing  on  Mexico  in  the  evening  at  the  C.  E. 
meeting. 

Writing  to  his  son  from  Dallas  on  the  26th,  he 
said:  "I  arrived  here  yesterday  and  was  very  hos- 
pitably received  by  Earnest  M.  Powell,  and  L.  H. 
Jamison  of  the  mission  in  Costa  Rica  and  Rev  Wm. 
Reed  of  the  Congregational  church  of  Dallas.  "I 
listened  last  evening  to  a  lecture  by  L.  H.  Hastings 
of  Boston.  He  is  a  very  earnest  worker  and  I  had 
read  many  of  his  tracts.  I  have  never  seen  a  group 
of  such  earnest  persons  with  firm  faith  in  God  as 
those  among  whom  the  C.  A,  M.  was  organized; 
Bro.  Scofield  now  at  Northfield,  Mass.,  built  up  the 
Congregational  church  here,  one  man  says  he  has 
seen  it  grow  from  7  to  700  members  within  his  ac- 
quaintance." 

Writing  to  his  wife  on  the  above  date  he  spoke  of 
a  sore  on  his  hand  which  was  injured  by  their 
hearty  handshakes  and  adds,  "after  leaving  here  I 
shall  hardly  find  such  earnest  grasps  and  can 
stand  hugging  in  Mexico  without  injury  to  my 
hand." 

Passing  on  by  way  of  Houston  and  San  Antonio 
he  arrived  at  Victoria  about  April  2nd. 

On  the  12th  he  wrote  his  son  from  C.  Victoria. 
"Another  Sabbath  has  come,  the  last  one  I  spend 
among  the  dear  Mexican  brethren.  I  have  been 
very  busy  packing  things.  I  feel  as  though  my 
journey  really  begins  when  I  leave  here,  for  I 
traverse  sections  I  have  never  before  seen.  Thus 
far  the  Lord  has  given  me  repeated  evidences  that  I 


196  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

am  in  my  right  place  and  I  trust  that  I  shall  as  I 
go  forward  from  here  have  even  clearer  evidences 
of  divine  approval."  He  wished  to  take  a  steamer 
from  Tampico  for  Coatzocoalcos  direct.  So  he 
waited  expecting  from  day  to  day  a  telegram  an- 
nouncing the  arrival  of  a  steamer  at  Tampico  and 
on  the  30th  he  wrote. 

"Dear  wife: — It  seems  strange  indeed  that  I 
should  write  to  you  again  from  here.  The  steamer 
"Spanish  Prince"  is  now  12  days  behind  time  and 
thus  I  am  thrown  a  full  month  behind  in  getting  to 
San  Salvador.  I  shall  have  to  stay  until  the  steam- 
er of  June  2nd  passes  for  Acajutla.  It  will  how- 
ever give  me  ample  time  to  study  the  conditions  of 
the  native  race  of  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec. 
Three  languages  are  spoken  there  and  very  many 
villages  have  no  Spanish  residents.  The  long 
wait  here  has  been  irksome,  though  as  Kelsey  was 
sick  and  the  other  workers  absent  and  the  Presby- 
terians at  their  presbytery  at  Jimenez  I  have  had 
charge  of  nearly  all  the  meetings  at  both  missions." 

"May  1st,  the  expected  telegram  came  yesterday 
and  I  leave  on  the  afternoon  train  today.  Last 
night  we  had  a  farewell  meeting  and  a  full  house 
though  only  on  short  notice.  Kelsey  spoke  awhile 
and  I  preached  a  farewell  sermon  from  Acts  20-24." 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  197 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE    JOURNEY   SOUTHWARD. 

Sail  on,  sail  on  throug^h  storm  and  calm 
Unto  the  land  where  grows  the  palm, 
With  him  who  brings  like  Noah's  dove 
The  olive  branch  of  peace  and  love. 

Thus  after  unexpected  delay  he  bade  his  last 
farewell  to  the  beloved  brethren  in  Mexico  for 
■whose  advancement  he  had  given  twenty-five  of  the 
best  years  of  his  life.  Given  them  willingly,  gladly 
for  the  love  he  bore  to  the  people  and  the  truth,  and 
not  to  the  people  of  Mexico  alone,  but  in  nearly  al 
the  Spanish  speaking  countries  of  America  his 
work,  through  the  productions  of  his  press  was 
known  as  a  strong  factor  in  the  advancement  of 
Christian  civilization. 

Arriving  in  Tampico  at  midnight,  he  was  met  at 
the  station  by  Bro.  Pressly,  who  took  him  to  his 
home  and  entertained  him  during  his  stay. 

Saturday  he  went  on  board  the  Norwegian  S.  S. 
"Spero"  and  engaged  passage  to  Coatzocoalcos; 
the  captain  received  him  kindly  and  said  he  might 
at  once  send  his  trunk  and  heavy  baggage  on  board, 
which  he  did,  though  they  would  not  start  until 
Monday.  On  the  Sabbath  he  preached  in  English 
at  11  a.  m.  and  again  in  the  evening  in  Spanish. 

In  a  letter  to  the  "American  Friend"  he  said, 
"Having  been  privileged  to  preach  the  first  Protes- 
tant sermon  in  this  city  twenty  yearsago,  this  was 


198  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

a  pleasant  parting  remembrance  to  the  state  of 
Tamaulpas;  the  agreeable  sphere  of  service  the 
Master  alloted  to  me  for  a  quarter  of  a  century. 
Brother  Trujillo,  the  native  pastor,  was  present  on 
that  occasion,  and  feelingly  alluded  to  our  joint 
opening  of  the  work  in  his  closing  prayer,  the  last 
public  one  I  am  to  listen  to  in  Mexico." 

Monday  morning,  May  4th,  he  hurried  on  board 
with  his  hand  baggage  and  they  left  the  port.  Ar- 
riving at  Vera  Cruz  the  next  day  at  noon,  and  it 
being  a  national  holiday  there  was  no  loading  or 
unloading,  so  they  had  to  lie  over  until  the  6th,  and 
crossed  the  bar  at  Coatzocoalcos  about  8  a.  m.  of 
the  7th.  On  anchoring  in  the  river  they  saw  a 
gigantic  Octopus  or  Devil  fish,  the  first  he  had  seen 
alive. 

Coatzocoalcos  is  a  small  town  which  grew  up 
-with  the  opening  of  the  Tehuantepec  R.  R.  The 
town  is  on  a  sand  hill  hke  Bagdad  (near  Matamor- 
us  where  Samuel  had  frequently  taken  his  family 
for  an  outing)  and  about  the  same  size,  but  mostly 
gamble  roofed  houses  of  two  stories  amid  beautiful 
groves  of  cocoanut  trees. 

He  staid  one  night  in  the  place  and  taking  the 
railway  arrived  at  Tehuantepec  in  the  evening  of 
the  8th,  writing  from  there  to  his  son  the  9th,  he 
thus  describes  the  route  across  the  isthmus; 
"From  Coatzocoalcos  we  passed  over  a  low  swampy 
region,  then  it  began  to  be  hills,  trees  and  vegeta- 
tion, like  Gomez  Farias,  then  it  became  open  like 
plains  of  Escandon,  and  finally  mountainous,  with 
deep  cuts  and  one  tunnel,  the  mountain   rather 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  199 

steeper  than  at  Victoria  and  nearly  as  high  as  the 
first  range,  or  more  like  San  Carlos."  The  isthmus 
is  but  146  miles  wide,  yet  the  route  across  is  so 
crooked  and  devious  that  the  railway  is  225  miles 
long;  Salina  Cruz,  the  seaport  on  the  Paciffic ocean,, 
is  15  miles  distant,  Tehuautepec  lies  on  the  west 
sdie  of  a  steep  hill  and  has  the  river  west  of  it. 

"The  city  is  about  the  size  of  Victoria  but  the 
surface  is  more  uneven.  I  am  on  high  ground  near 
the  plaza  and  have  rented  a  room  at  $2.00  per  week 
with  very  good  ventilation,  which  in  such  a  warm 
climate  is  of  very  great  importance.  This  is  the 
ancient  city  of  the  Zepoticas,  a  branch  of  the  old 
Aztec  empire,  they  are  physically  a  very  superior 
race,  equal  to  any  of  ancient  Greece  or  Egypt,  but 
like  those  races  morally  degraded." 

"Never  did  I  so  want  the  camera  as  here.  While 
I  feel  very  much  disappointed  in  being  detained 
here,  I  shall  for  once  spend  a  short  time  in  the 
midst  of  one  of  the  most  unchanged  cities  of  the 
native  race  of  Mexico."  On  the  10th,  he  added: 
"My  first  Sabbath  day  at  Tehuantepec.  The 
early  morning  was  very  warm  indeed,  as  much  if 
not  more  so  than  any  day  at  Victoria.  The  moun- 
ains  are  mostly  bare  rock  and  the  air  is  thereby 
super-heated,  but  at  10  a.  m.  a  fresher  breeze  has- 
now  and  then  come  from  the  north.  There  was 
much  hghtning  on  the  mountains  last  night— prob- 
ably it  rained  on  some  of  the  peaks,  which  are  high 
and  sharp.  The  mountains  lie  almost  wholly  to 
the  west  and  northwest,  though  there  are  hills  to 
the  east— but  all  dry,  hot  and  rocky  at  this  seasoa 


200  LII^^  AND  LETTERS 

of  the  year,  the  most  unpleasant  on  these  regions 
when  the  rain  comes  it  cools  off  the  atmosphere  and 
moistens  the  rocks.  They  have  been  shooting  off 
rockets  quite  frequently,  I  think  it  must  be  pray- 
ing to  the  virgin  for  rain. 

"4  P.  M.  I  have  been  writing,  reading  and 
sleeping.  It  seems  some  like  imprisonment  to  be 
detained  so  long  where  there  is  very  little  or  noth- 
ing that  I  can  do  for  the  Master,— both  from  not 
having  books  and  tracts  and  because  so  few  read 
Spanish  and  of  course  I  have  nothing  in  the  Zapotic 
language. 

Whilst  I  would  love  to  be  instrumental  in  raising 
this  people  to  a  higher  and  a  purer  life,  to  turn 
them  from  their  idols  to  serve  the  living  God,  I 
trust  we  shall  find  a  needy  and  perhaps  more  pleas- 
ant sphere  of  labor  in  Salvador.  There  is  a  man 
with  his  wife,  child  and  mother-in-law  detained 
here  like  myself  waiting  for  the  steamer.  They 
are  to  go  to  Gautemala." 

"Having  a  very  satisfactory  room  in  the  home  of 
a  family  of  ardent  CathoHcs,  he  did  not  think  it 
wise  to  give  them  very  much  of  his  history  or  his 
position  as  a  protestant  minister,  for  fear  they 
might  wish  him  to  leave.  He  showed  some  bible 
pictures  to  the  children  of  the  family,  and  their  ap- 
preciation of  them  indicated  quite  a  knowledge  of 
the  scriptures. 

They  were  free  in  conversation  with  him  and 
treated  him  very  kindly;  and  writing  of  the  family 
tohis  wife,  he  said:  "They  are  all  very  religious 
aad  I  got  to  know  more  about  the  home  life  of 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  MX 

CathoHee  than  I  ever  could  without  being  thus 
thrown  in  contact  with  them."  The  few  English 
speaking  people  he  met  were  fully  occupied  with 
business  and  were  not  sociable,  so  he  had  no 
visitors. 

Having  no  fire  in  his  room  he  did  no  cooking,  bul 
took  his  breakfast  at  some  restaurant,  or  oftener 
at  the  market  where  the  Zopoteca  women  sold 
every  variety  of  food  products  which  that  section 
affords,  though  speaking  their  native  tongue,  they 
usually  understood  enough  Spanish  to  enable  them 
to  trade  readily  with  him.  He  would  buy  some 
tomales  or  bread  and  milk  and  an  egg  or  two, 
sometimes  a  cocoanut  or  banana,  taking  some  to 
his  room  for  dinner  he  avoided  going  out  in  the 
heat  of  the  midday,  he  usually  bought  tomatoes  for 
sauce,  cutting  them  up  with  sugar  which  he  kept 
on  hand.    Thus  it  cost  from  30  to  50  cents  per  day. 

June  20th  in  writing  to  his  wife  he  says:  "I  am 
still  dating  my  letter  at  Tehuantepec,  and  am  still 
in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  health.  I  have  been 
giving  some  finishing  touche*  to  'The  Bible  in 
Picture  and  Story,'  since  I  wrote  my  last  letters. 
It  is  now  a  month  since  my  last  letter  from  you 
was  written,  and  I  know  not  how  many  strange 
things  may  have  happened  in  the  rest  of  the 
"world,  for  I  have  not  had  any  papers  to  read. 
The  time  passes  rather  heavily  with  almost  no 
visits  at  all,  and  very  little  to  sttend  to.  I  hope 
that  one  week  more  will  end  this  monotonous  delay. 
While  if  we  were  all  here  I  would  think  we  could 
do  a  good  work  among  the  people.    They  are  very 


202  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

cleanly  as  compared  to  the  Aztec  race.  There  were 
two  girls  about  10  and  13  who  seemed  to  be  orphans 
from  some  other  tribe,  and  nearly  every  morn- 
ing the  large  one  would  sit  down  on  the  steps  of  a 
building  near  the  market  and  pick  off  and  eat  the 
lice  from  the  head  of  her  sister.  They  had  lived 
on  what  was  given  them  by  the  market  women. 
Some  two  weeks  passed  when  some  women  who 
sell  fruits,  set  them  to  work  carrying  fruit  from 
the  orchards  to  the  market,  and  now  they  are 
washed  up  clean  every  day,  and  hair  combed  out  so 
that  they  look  very  different  to  what  they  did. 

June  21st,  12  M.  I  have  been  busy  writing  to 
people  and  now  noon  is  at  hand  and  I  must  get  din- 
ner ready.  If  we  were  settled  here  we  could  have 
nice  dinners.  I  have  no  way  to  have  a  fire  so  do 
not  attempt  cooking.  If  I  could  boil  eggs  I  would 
do  so,  but  having  learned  to  eat  them  raw  I  suppose 
they  are  better  for  me  in  that  way.  There  are  lots 
of  nice  fish  in  the  market  but  only  small  ones  are 
sold  fried.  The  tamales  here  are  very  good,  the 
white  ones  I  never  saw  better  in  my  life. 

Champurrado  here  is  made  by  beating  three 
cents  worth  of  chocolate  in  a  bowl  of  atolc  bianco, 
but  the  woman  who  makes  it  is  not  always  at  the 
market  at  night,  and  I  always  take  milk  in  the 
morning.  Cakes  of  chocolate  pass  here  as  money 
and  the  women  keep  to  their  ancient  prices  but 
many  are  getting  to  learn  how  to  count  by  cents.  I 
had  no  thought  that  I  should  live  this  way  forty- 
three  days  when  I  began,  and  still  I  had  rather  do 
so  than  pay  one  dollar  per  day  at   a   hotel.    I 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  203 

shall  have  a  chance  to  make  up  a  little  on  the 
steamer  quite  likely.  Now  may  God  bless  and 
keep  you  until  he  permits  us  to  meet  again,  and 
work  for  the  advancement  of  his  cause." 


204  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  ZAPOTECAS. 

Hail — fair  women  and  brave  men  who  struggling  on 
Through  the  dark  shadows  of  the  tyrants  sway, 
Await  the  coming  of  "The  Morning  Star"' 
"Which  heralds  in,  a  brighter,  better  day. 

History  in  general  is  but  the  annals  of  the  con- 
ditions and  doings  of  mankind.  An  earnest  and 
enthusiastic  student  of  history,  Samuel  had  become 
familiar  with  the  culture  and  development  of 
Greece  and  Rome  which  has  made  them  models 
for  the  world  in  scholarship  and  in  art;  and  had 
studied  the  records  of  the  prehistoric  races  of  this 
country  and  following  the  conquests  of  Cortez  and 
Pizarro  as  they  planted  the  Spanish  people  among 
the  native  races  of  Mexico  and  of  the  most  of  the 
continent  to  the  southward;  he  took  much  delight 
in  meeting  and  learning  by  personal  contact  the 
present  conditions  of  this  remnant  of  the  Zapote- 
cas  a  branch  of  the  ancient  Aztec  race  who  roamed 
over  the  mountains  and  cultivated  in  a  rude  way 
the  plains  of  Mexico  before  the  Spanish  conquest. 
They  seemed  to  have  been  superior  to  the  Aztecs 
in  the  past  and  he  found  them  so  now  as  he  had 
mingled  with  them  on  the  street  and  in  the  market. 
As  he  bought  his  food  every  day  in  the  market  and 
ate  some  of  his  meals  there,  he  had  ample  oppor- 
tunities for  observation  of  their  ways  and  habits; 
that  he  improved  these  opportunities  is  evident  by 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  205 

the  voluminous  comments  he  made  upon  this  peo- 
ple in  his  letters  to  his  friends  in  the  north.  Dur- 
ing his  stay  here  which  was  lengthened  out  to 
nearly  two  months  he  wrote  every  few  days  to  his 
wife  and  son  in  North  Carohna,  making  many  in- 
teresting descriptive  notes  of  the  people,  from 
which  we  shall  draw  some  extracts  soon.  On  May 
18th  he  addressed  a  lengthy  letter  to  the  writer  of 
this  volume,  which  is  so  fine  a  description  of  the 
customs  and  peculiarities  of  this  people  that  the 
reader  will  find  it  interesting  throughout  and  so  it 
is  inserted  nearly  entire. 

"Dear  Cousin:— I  do  not  know  whether  thou 
wilt  have  heard  ere  now  of  my  detention  on  this 
isthmus,  so  that  I  shall  have  fully  three  weeks  in 
this  ancient  capital  of  the  Zopoteca  nation.  This 
nation  for  a  long  time  resisted  the  forces  of  Monte- 
zuma II,  their  fortified  hill  being  one  of  the  strong- 
est fortresses  ever  raised  by  an  American  race.  It 
is  visible  from  the  river  bank  though  nearly  12 
miles  away.  It  has  quite  recently  been  visited  by 
a  scientific  traveller  and  a  road  cut  to  its  summit 
though  very  difficult  of  ascent.  This  traveller  says 
that  the  Zopoteca  women  equal  in  physical  per- 
fection the  best  models  of  Japan  and  Egypt.  Their 
peculiar  dress  and  customs  gives  however  an  op- 
portunity for  unlimited  development  and  also  for 
considerable  freedom  of  observation.  They  cer- 
tainly have  the  most  perfect  physical  development 
I  have  ever  seen  in  any  Mexican  race,  being  far 
superior  in  this  respect  to  the  Aztec  race,  from 
whom  they  differ    widely  in  language.     The  mea 


206  LIFE  AND  LEITERS 

only  wear  shirt  and  drawers  of  sheeting  and  the 
boys  to  about  thirteen  only  a  shirt  often  very  much 
abbreviated  in  front,  but  protecting  the  chest  from 
exposure.  The  men  and  boys  are  water  carriers 
which  is  unusual  for  an  Indian  race.  They  carry 
the  large  stone  jars  on  their  shoulder  and  the  half 
of  a  gourd  shell  they  use  to  dip  with  from  the  river 
they  use  as  a  cap  going  and  returning.  Some  of 
them  have  substituted  a  tin  cup  of  some  form  as 
the  half  gourd  shell  and  which  they  also  uniformly 
use  as  a  cap. 

"The  women  wear  only  three  articles  of  clothing, 
shoes  and  sandals  being  tabooed  by  both  sexes. 
The  women  wear  a  short  jacket  of  high  colored 
calico — sleeveless  and  very  low  necked  and  loose 
at  the  bottom  but  reaching  only  to  the  waiste. 
They  put  this  on  by  raising  the  arms  almost  per- 
pendicular, and  once  in  position  it  can  go  no  lower. 
The  wind  often  raise  it  to  the  armpits  exposing  the 
whole  bust  and  always  when  walking  an  undulating 
movement  is  given  to  the  front  by  the  breasts 
which  are  very  prominent  even  in  young  maidens. 
The  arm  holes  and  bottom  are  ornamented  by 
narrow  strips  of  yellow,  blue  and  yellow  making  it 
look  quite  gay.  Their  plump  arms  are  always 
bare.  The  jacket  reminds  me  of  the  pictures  of 
the  Nautch  dancing  girls  of  Hindostan  except  that 
it  is  loose  at  the  bottom,  below  this  they  wear  a 
wrap  made  usually  of  bright  red  cloth  with  perpen- 
dicular stripes  of  blue  and  white  about  one-fourth 
of  an  inch  wide  and  three  inches  apart.  This  is 
lapped  in  front,  sometimes  only  four  inches  but 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  207 

usually  in  grown  women  from  thigh  to  thigh,  but 
closely  adhering  to  the  form.  In  the  girl  the  lap  is 
usually  in  line  with  the  centre  of  the  right  hip  in 
front  so  that  in  walking  the  right  leg  steps  out  of 
the  wrap  until  the  left  foot  is  brought  forward. 
This  often  happens  in  grown  servant  girls  when 
chasing  each  other  playfully  on  the  streets,  even 
in  cases  where  the  intermixture  of  races  has  very 
nearly  whitened  the  bronze  skin.  I  think  how- 
ever that  the  pure  race  has  usually  a  fuller  devel- 
opment, though  nearer  the  Egyptian  type  than 
any  other.  The  mixed  race  is  physically  no  im- 
provement on  either  for  the  pure  Spanish  race  de- 
scended from  the  Romans  have  the  finest  forms 
■which  have  furnished  models  for  Phidias,  Cleome- 
nes,  Appollodoro,  Canova  and  other  sculptors  who 
have  presented  to  us  such  works  as  the  Venuse's 
of  Medici,  Callipigae,  Cnidus,  Milo  and  Victrix,  but 
it  is  a  different  style  of  beauty  perhaps  more  re- 
fined but  not  more  striking  than  the  Egyptian. 
The  Zapoteca  women  spend  nearly  their  money 
and  attention  on  their  huipil  or  head  dress  which 
has  not  changed  in  style  for  over  200  years.  It  is 
the  most  wonderful  combination  of  frills,  flounces, 
tucks,  lace  and  embroidery  that  I  ever  saw  and  if  one 
were  ever  to  reach  Paris  I  think  it  would  take  and 
become  the  head  dress  of  Europe  for  a  s:ason. 
They  have  to  be  seen  to  be  admired  for  description 
.is  well  nigh  impossible.  It  is  about  5  feet  long  by 
30  inches  wide  with  an  oval  hole  in  the  center  around 
which  is  a  wide  frill  horizontal  to  the  rest.  When 
the  head  is  placed  in  this  it  looks  like  a  lace  bonnet 


208  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

■with  a  lace  cap  fore  and  aft,  but  usually  for  going 
to  church  or  holyday  the  head  is  placed  in  front  and 
the  entire  covering  falls  over  the  back  reaching  be- 
low the  knee.  The  outer  section  is  always  a  frill 
or  flounce  of  curtain  like  material,  the  section  from 
that  to  the  head  hole  is  often  of  a  rich  purple 
brown  color  and  adorned  with  flowers  in  rich  col- 
ors with  foliage,  etc.,  worked  on  by  hand  in  raised 
figures.  I  might  add  that  natural  flowers  form  one 
of  the  noted  passions  of  this  race.  They  seem  to 
be  a  joyous,  careless  people  much  like  grown  up 
children  and  not  borrowing  trouble.  In  this  as  I 
heard  L.  H.  Hastings,  of  Boston,  say  in  his  lecture 
at  Dallas,  'I  would  never  borrow  trouble  if  I  had 
any. '  They  are  fond  of  bathing,  frolicking  in  never 
the  water,  etc. 

"In  regard  to  morals  and  religion  whilst  some  of 
them  adopt  Romanism  and  go  to  the  big  church 
•where  they  repeat  in  concert  prayers  to  the  Virgin 
Mary,  listen  to  the  Latin  prayers  and  all  kneeling 
very  devoutly  on  the  brick  floor  with  their  huipil  in 
holiday  position,  yet  there  is  no  effort  to  preach  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  to  them  even  at  the  Big  Church. 
They  have  a  great  many  chaoels  of  their  own 
■where  they  have  their  own  festivities,  or  Mass  as 
they  call  it.  I  have  attended  two  of  these.  One 
■was  where  there  are  three  crosses  on  the  summit 
of  a  rocky  hill  which  rises  like  on  isolated  pyramid 
on  the  bank  of  the  river.  There  was  a  brass  band, 
a  display  of  banners,  and  the  people  sitting  about 
eating  fruit,  drinking  pulque  so  that  I  saw  boys  in 
their  teens  so  drunk  they  came  near  falling  off  the 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  209 

rocks  and  being  dashed  to  pieces.  I  saw  no  other 
service  there  at  all.  The  other  was  at  a  chapel  only 
a  few  squares  from  my  room  and  I  suppose  was  a 
festivity  of  St.  Isidore — the  farmer.  Front  of  the 
chapel  was  an  arbor  covered  with  reeds  closely 
matted  together,  and  also  protected  on  the  west 
side  in  the  same  way.  The  posts  sustaining  this 
arbor  each  had  a  banana  plant  branch  and  all  tied 
to  it  as  a  decoration.  The  interior  of  the  chapel 
being  decorated  with  green  branches  and  with  ban- 
ners of  red,  white  and  green.  Several  tallow  can- 
dles about  a  yard  long,  two  inches  thick  at  the 
lower  end  were  placed  in  front  of  a  bronze  image  of 
Christ  now  blackened  by  age  and  obscured  by 
strings  of  bottle  green  brass  beads  around  the 
head  and  neck  so  that  from  the  door  it  looked  more 
like  an  image  of  a  gorilla  than  of  a  man.  There 
was  a  brass  band  playing,  many  other  candles, 
perhaps  fifty  smaller  and  all  adorned  with  artific- 
ial flowers  but  none  of  them  lighted  except  a  small 
one  on  the  floor  to  burn  incense  or  aromatic  herbs. 
The  festivity  however,  was  not  at  the  chapel,  but 
at  a  house  nearby  where  a  reed  arbor  was  con- 
structed enclosed  by  reeds  except  at  the  south 
(ihe  sun  being  now  in  our  zenith)  and  there  was  a 
brass  band  playing  and  a  native  dance  going  on 
with  much  feasting  and  drinking  of  polque,  until 
the  men  became  so  drunk  that  they  could  not  keep 
time  with  the  music  and  simply  jumped  up  and 
down  before  their  partners  making  horid  grimaces 
until  oftentimes  the  maidens  left  the  dance  in  dis- 
gust.    I  saw  one  man  drop  on  his  knees  and  con- 


210  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

tinue  dancing  in  that  position,  until  it  became  a 
drunken  row  and  the  police  had  to  interfere.  Thus 
passed  the  feast  of  Isidore,  patron  of  farmers,  the 
river  was  in  a  flood  and  abundant  rains  seem  com- 
ing on  so  that  I  suppose  they  thought  this  feast  a 
marvelous  success.  There  was  no  priest  and  no 
prayer  at  this  festivity  as  at  that  of  the  Holy 
Cross. 

This  is  a  city  of  10,0(^0  people  with  10.000 
more  in  its  jurisdiction.  The  Zapoteca  language  is 
the  one  almost  universally  spoken,  though  the 
marketing  women  understand  enough  Spanish  to 
sell  their  goods.  Contrary  to  the  Spanish  usage 
all  the  markets  both  buying  and  selling  is  done  by 
women  and  they  walk  alone  on  the  streets  selling 
fruits,  etc.  The  market  building  is  a  beautiful 
structure  and  to  see  200  native  women  in  their  gay 
attire,  squatted  by  their  stock  or  seated  by  their 
tapestles  (a  table  made  of  palm  stems  which  can  be 
rolled  up)  gesticulating  earnestly  as  they  chat 
loudly  in  their  native  tongue  presents  a  group 
which  would  make  me  think  myself  in  Ceylon  or 
some  Isle  of  the  Indian  Ocean  if  I  did  not  know  by 
my  diary  that  I  am  at  Tehuantepec.  To  be  among 
such  evident  idolatry,  in  such  a  near  approach  to 
the  savage  state,  unable  to  teach  them  a  better  way 
has  been  an  unpleasant  feature  of  my  detention. 
It  would  require  some  months  to  open  a  mission 
here  and  would  require  patient  perseverance,  leav- 
ing results  with  God.  I  have  been  more  ethno- 
graphic in  my  letter  than  usual  because  I  am 
studying  the  condition  and  needs  of  this  people  at 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  211 

he  request  of  Bro.  Dillon,  the  Arthington  Explor- 
er. It  may  be  the  only  time  in  my  life  when  thrown 
so  closely  in  contact  with  a  race  in  so  primeval  a 
condition,  difficult  to  define  between  Egyptian  and 
Polynesian  characteristics. 

"The  'Costa  Rica'  has  gone  past  for  Acapulco 
and  will  return  about  June  4th  when  I  hope  to  go 
forward  to  Acajutla  in  Salvador.  This  line  by 
Tehuantepec  has  not  been  regulated  there  being 
no  regularity  in  the  steamers  on  the  Gulf  side,  ai  d 
only  one  steamer  touches  each  month  on  the  west- 
ern side.  I  trust  you  will  continue  to  write  to  me 
directing  your  letters  to  San  Salvador. 
Love  to  all.     Your  cousin 

S.  A.  Purdie." 

In  writing  to  his  wife  and  Joseph  he  frequently 
made  comments  on  these  interesting  people;  often 
in  much  the  same  words  he  uses  above,  but  per- 
haps some  brief  extracts  may  add  variety  and  full- 
ness to  the  description.  In  writing  to  his  wife  he 
said: 

"  I  wish  I  could  describe  to  you  the  head  gear  of 
the  Zapotecas.  Today  being  Sunday  many  wear 
them  in  a  different  way  to  which  they  do  on  work 
days;  yesterday  most  had  their  heads  near  the 
front  end,  and  today  many  have  them  in  the 
middle,  pulling  the  hole  perpendicular  for  the  face 
sets  off  the  central  collar  like  piece  and  makes 
a  cap  before  and  dehind.  I  have  seen  pictures  of 
them  but  even  then  I  could  form  no  idea  of  the  re- 
ality. They  have  no  buttons,  hooks,  eyes  or  pins 
in  use,  in  holding  on  their  clothing.     The  lower 


212  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

•wrap  pfoes  one  and  a  fourth  to  one  and  three- fourths 
times  round  the  body  and  is  held  in  place  by  mere- 
ly tucking  it  in  at  the  top  where  it  laps.  There  are 
a  few  people  who  dress  in  Spanish  style,  mostly 
the  wealthy.  The  owners  of  my  room  are  one  of 
this  class  and  seem  to  be  very  nice  people.  The 
man's  name  is  Thomas|Gracia.  I  am  on  one  of  the 
main  squares  but  it  has  no  trees.  I  think  you 
-would  like  to  live  here,  but  I  trust  San  Salvador 
will  be  a  much  more  agreeable  place  as  there  will 
be  more  education  and  culture  there.  Here  there 
is  much  that  would'hinder  missionary  work  though 
they  seem  to  be  a  very  industrious  people,  and 
generally  remarkably  cheerful  and  kind.  While 
there  is  no  doubt  much  wickedness,  yet  there  are 
some  things  which  look  favorable.  The  Zapoteca 
girls  do  not  have  sweethearts  so  young  as  the  peo- 
ple do  in  Tamavlipas,  and  at  fourteen  seem  to  be 
very  childlike  and  innocent  and  while  drunkeness 
and  imorahty  seems  rife  among  men,  yet  childhood 
seems  less  perverted  among  this  people  than  in 
Tamavlipas.  Women  of  all  ages  and  girls  as  well 
walk  alone  on  the  streets  to  any  distance  and  even 
come  in  from  the  country  or  across  the  river  from 
Santa  Cruz  alone.  This  could  hardly  be  the  case 
if  vice  were  as  prevalent  as  it  might  seem  to  be.  It 
may  be  because  there  are  so  few  Spanish  people 
here.  Whilst  they  bathe  with  little  or  no  clothing 
on  yet  they  never  have  any  riotuous  or  noisj^  times 
like  those  at  our  country  house  all  being  quiet  and 
with  no  disturbance. 

"While  there  is  a  more  primitive  condition  in 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  213 

youth,  the  religious  festivities  of  the  Zapotecas  are 
very  drunken  and  riotuous.  As  yesterday  was  St. 
John's  day  I  saw  one  at  a  chapel  west  of  the  house 
"where  I  live  when  they  went  around  among  the 
crowd  with  bottles  of  mezcal  and  glasses  trying  to 
get  every  one  to  drink  and  there  were  very  few 
sober  men.  The  women  and  young  ladies  tried  to 
keep  order  among  the  men  but  without  much 
success.  The  Zapoteca  women  are  fond  of  orna- 
ments of  gold  and  not  a  few  of  them  may  be  seen 
in  the  plaza  making  purchases  with  $150  or  $200  of 
gold  coins  forming  a  necklace  and  hanging  down 
as  a  pendant  in  front,  some  of  the  larger  ones  are 
$40  gold  pieces  and  all  have  holes  in  them  to  fasten 
them  together." 

Thus  he  describes  this  interesting  race,  with  so 
much  to  remind  us  of  the  past,  they  still  have  traits 
that  would  readily  respond  to  Christian  teaching 
and  education  and  culture. 

We  do  not  wonder  that  he  almost  longed  to  stay 
with  them  and  labor  for  their  elevation  and  ad- 
vancement. 


214  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  LONG  DELAY. 

'•Patience  makes  light  the  wrongs, 
We  may  not  right." 

In  a  previous  chapter  there  is  frequent  refer- 
ence to  his  continued  detention  on  the  isthmus  ow- 
ing to  the  delay  of  the  steamship  upon  the  Pacific 
by  severe  storms. 

On  his  first  arrival  he  wrote  of  the  extremely  hot 
dry  weather  they  were  experiencing;  but  in  June 
they  had  an  abundance  of  rain,  which  cooled  the 
air  making  it  much  more  comfortable;  he  speaks 
of  this  as  their  winter  season  it  being  the  rainy 
one  made  it  probably  the  coolest  of  the  years. 

On  June  2d,  he  wrote  to  his  son,  "There  are  some 
20  passengers  here  waiting,  some  are  trying  to 
buy  mules  and  go  on  to  Guatemala — their  destina- 
tion. If  I  did  not  have  such  heavy  baggage  I 
might  try  to  go,  but  flooded  streams  would  make 
land  travel  tedious.  I  left  many  things,  but  have 
400  lbs.  of  baggage  with  me  now,  so  there  is  no 
chance  for  me  to  do  any  thing  but  wait  for  the 
steamer." 

Again  on  the  7th.  he  wrote  to  his  wife:  "It  has 
been  one  of  the  severest  trials  of  my  life  to  be  de- 
tained so  long  here  with  no  arrangements  for  active 
missionary  service.  Why  the  Lord  has  permitted 
it  and  to  what  extent  I  am  responsible  for  follow- 
ing Pressly's  advice,  the  Lord  alone  can  judge.  My 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  245 

delay  will  enable  me  to  translate  "The  Bible  in  Pic- 
ture and  Story"  and  so  far  as  missionary  work  is 
concerned  it  will  be  about  all  I  cad  do." 

Writing  to  Joseph  the  next  day  he  said :  "  We  have 
never  been  separated  so  far  or  under  circumstances 
of  so  proving  a  character  as  at  present  I  still  feel 
like  going  forward  trusting  in  the  unslumbering 
shepherd  of  Israel,  who  keepeth  his  guard  round 
about  us.  We  have  to  trust  each  other  to  the  Lord 
more  fully  and  to  dwell  closely  before  Him  in  pray- 
er, commending  one  another  to  His  watchful  over- 
sight. Try  to  avoid  all  evil  company  and  all  evil 
habits.  If  not  in  school  do  full  work  on  the  farm 
and  help  your  uncle  George  make  something  for 
you  to  live  on  while  you  are  detained  there." 

On  the  10th.  he  again  wrote  his  wife;  "I  finished 
translating  the  Old  Testament  part  of  the  Bible  in 
Picture  and  Story  today.  Perhaps  after  all  the 
best  month's  work  of  my  life  may  be  the  one  done 
here  at  Tehuantepec.  It  never  has  been  possible 
for  me  to  do  this  work  when  surrounded  by  so 
many  attentions  and  visitors.  Here  I  practically 
have  no  visitors.  I  have  not  been  invited  into  a 
house  in  this  town  by  either  a  native  or  a  foreign 
resident.  I  suppose  so  many  people  attempting  to 
cross  here,  spend  all  their  money  and  beg  to  get 
enough  to  leave  on,  that  peeple  have  decided  not  to 
open  social  relations  with  people  in  transit  across 
this  isthmus." 

Writing  to  Joseph  on  the  13th  of  June  he  des- 
cribes to  him  his  first  visit  to  the  Pacific:  "Yester- 
day— Friday,  it  was  known  that  the  Barraconta 


216  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

was  anchored  off  Selina  Cruz,  and  that  as  she  had 
165  passengers  a  special  train  had  been  ordered  to 
connect  it  with  the  steamer  for  Vera  Cruz.  After 
waiting  at  the  station  some  hours  I  left  Tehuante- 
pec  at  5  P.  M.,  and  the  next  day  I  had  the  novel  ex- 
perience of  seeing  the  landing  of  passengers  where 
there  is  no  port. — The  men  of  Selina  Cruz  were 
nearly  all  employed  in  bringing  them  on  their 
shoulders  from  the  boats  (where  they  were  obUged 
to  stop)  through  the  water  to  the  beach,  and  the 
boys  in  bringing  bird  cages,  carpet  sacks  and  small 
packages  on  shore.  Three  large  boats  were  em- 
ployed, one  making  two  trips  so  about  forty  were 
in  each  boat  and  full  half  a  day  employed  in  get* 
ting  them  and  their  trunks  on  shore. 

"The  sea  water  was  at  a  good  temperature  and  I 
could  have  bathed  by  clinging  to  a  rope  or  to  the 
section  of  the  iron  pier,  but  near  the  rocky  bluff 
was  a  section  where  the  water  flowed  sidewise 
from  the  regular  wave  and  broke  out  on  a  nearly 
level  plaza  of  small  extent.  From  the  hill  to  the 
rocky  bluff,  perhaps  a  mile  is  all  the  beach  which  is 
visible.  I  did  not  find  a  single  shell  worth  picking 
up." 

With  the  above  he  sent  a  few  lines  to  his  wife  say- 
ing: "How  I  long  to  hear  from  you  and  also  to  see 
and  talk  with  you.  We  have  been  farther  separat- 
ed than  ever  before  and  three  long  months  have  now 
passed  away.  I  know  not  how  you  are  physically, 
— but  I  Imojp^  that  you  love  and  serve  God  faith- 
fully. There  are  many  thus  returning  home  from 
Central  America,  all    young    people    who    went 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  217 

out  to  work  on  railroads  or  on  sugar  plantations." 
On  June  28th,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  "I  hope  that 
this  may  be  my  last  letter  dated  at  Tehuantepec. 
When  I  look  at  my  long  delay  here,  without  one  day 
of  ill  health  and  how  I  have  been  able  to  sustain  the 
trial,  I  can  find  much  for  which  to  thank  my 
Heavenly  Father,  I  have  had  to  trust  you  both  to 
His  care  and  it  is  now  almost  a  month  since  I  had  a 
letter  from  you  and  will  be  about  two  weeks  longer 
ere  I  reach  one  in  Salvador." 


218  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  NEW   FIELD. 

"Truth,  forever  on  the  Scaffold 
Wrong  forever  on  the  Throne 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future 
And  behind  the  dim  unknown 
Standeth  God  within  the   shadow 
Keeping  watch  above  his  own."        — Lowell, 

The  long  delay  was  ended  on  July  1st,  when  h© 
left  Selina  Cruz  on  the  steamer  Barreconta  bound 
toward  Salvador.  Had  he  reached  Coatzocoalcos 
ten  days  earlier  he  could  have  left  this  port  on  May 
2nd,  and  reached  his  field  of  work  two  months 
sooner,  and  yet  the  time  spent  on  the  isthmus  was 
far  from  lost,  his  study  of  the  people  was  of  much 
interest  to  him  aside  from  the  work  of  translation 
which  occupied  most  of  his  time.  The  voyage 
down  the  Paciffc  passed  without  noticable  incident 
until  the  9th,  when  off  Champerico  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers suffering  with  dysentery  suddenly  died. 
He  was  an  Englishman,  a  carpenter  bound  for 
Acajutla.  The  body  was  sewed  up  in  blankets, 
iron  weights  attached  to  it,  and  slid  from  the  gang- 
way into  the  sea. 

The  machinery  of  the  vesssl  was  stopped  while 
the  captain  offered  a  brief  prayer  to  "Our  Heavenly 
Father"  as  they  consigned  the  body  to  the  deep. 
Just  after  the  ceremony  on  deck  Samuel  was 
called  to  interpret  the  words  of  the  captain  to  the 
Spanish  passengers.     He  also  mentioned  to  Joseph, 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  219 

"Just  a  few  minutes  before  we  caught  a  shark 
about  six  feet  long,  a  thresher  shark,  with  eight 
rows  of  teeh*^." 

So  after  eleven  days  on  the  Pacific  he  landed 
at  Acajutla  in  Salvador  on  the  12th  and  proceeded 
to  his  destination  at  San  Salvador. 

The  special  record  of  his  first  days  in  Salvador 
is  not  at  hand.  But  having  secured  a  temporary 
stopping  place,  his  first  point  of  interest  must  have 
been  the  Post  Office  where  there  was  awaiting  him 
the  letters  his  family  and  friends  had  been  writ- 
ing to  him  for  nearly  two  months  past;  a  comfort 
and  satisfaction  next  to  that  of  meeting  them  per- 
sonally. 

Then  followed  his  initiation  to  the  work  among 
the  people,  a  study  of  the  situation,  its  opportuni- 
ties and  possibilities. 

On  the  28th  he  wrote  to  his  son  beginning  by 
answering  some  question  he  had  asked  regarding 
surnames,  giving  him  quite  a  sketch  of  their  origin 
and  derivation.  He  requests  him  while  in  New 
York  to  try  and  get  acquainted  with  their  relatives 
and  hopes  he  may  visit  his  aunt  Deborah  and  her 
family  in  western  New  York  and  when  there,  go 
and  see  Niagara  Falls. 

After  speaking  of  their  long  separation  he  adds, 
"If  mamma  thinks  she  is  not  strong  enough  to  un- 
dertake a  journey  here  she  must  say  so  and  then  I 
will  come  back  and  we  will  settle  in  North  Carolina. 
She  has  as  good  a  right  to  say  where  we  shall  live 
as  I  have,  and  can  best  judge  whether  she  has  the 
strength  to  attempt  it,  and  if  not  then  we  must 


220  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

settle  where  she  can  be  with  us  and  we  with  her. 
You  will  have  to  be  nine  days  on  the  Atlantic  and 
five  days  on  the  Pacific.  Quite  likely  she  can  tell 
better  after  trying  the  trip  to  New  York.  While 
this  country  is  in  great  need  of  missionaries  the 
Lord  can  raise  up  other  laborers.  If  in  the  time 
of  your  visit  the  Lord  shows  us  clearly  that  this  is 
the  place  for  us  all  to  work  for  him  he  will  give  her 
strength  for  the  journey.  We  must  take  it  to  the 
Lord  in  prayer  and  watch  all  the  outward  evidences 
in  either  direction.  I  trust  he  will  at  length  show 
us  very  clearly  what  to  do." 

It  took  considerable  time  to  study  up  the  situa- 
tion, and  find  a  place  to  locate  where  he  could  hold 
meetings  as  soon  as  he  could  interest  the  people 
sufficiently  to  get  their  attendance. 

The  country  was  under  the  sway  of  Catholicism, 
and  the  adherents  of  the  latter,  secretly  if  not  open* 
ly  opposed  the  introduction  of  Protestantism 
among  them,  it  therefore  required  much  wisdom 
and  descretion  to  open  the  way  for  his  advances 
among  this  people. 

His  intimate  acquaintance  with  men  acquired  by 
long  contact  with  all  classes  of  society,  and  his  in- 
herent tact  in  the  judgement  of  human  character 
enabled  him  to  secure  a  foothold  where  many  would 
have  failed.  On  July  31st.  9  P.  M.  he  addressed  the 
writer  as  follows: 

''I  write!  these  lines  impelled  the  fact  that  we 
both  have  astronomi  cal  proclivities.  This  is  a  star- 
ry night,  a  rare  thing  at  this  season.  My  eyes 
caught  sight  of  Scoryio  high  in  air  and  I  at  once  re* 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  221 

curred  to  Burritt's  Geography  of  the  Heavens  for 
tracing  what  I  had  never  seen  of  the  southern 
circumpolar  map.  Below  Scorpio  past  the  meridian 
I  at  once  recognized  the  Southern  Triangle,  a  very 
bright  group  of  stars.  The  polar  star  lies  very  low 
in  my  northern  horizon,  and  the  big  dipper  now 
visible  entirely  disappears  as  do  some  of  the  body 
of  the  Little  Dipper.  In  the  looking  at  the  southern 
stars  I  had  to  move  my  position  as  a  lofty  cocoanut 
palm  loaded  with  two  bunches  of  twenty-tive  each 
is  just  south  of  my  door  and  near  it  a  Cypress  tree. 
This  calls  my  attention  to  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
In  the  main  Plaza  are  two  Bread  fruit  trees  now 
loaded  with  flowers  and  fruits  just  set.  The  leaves 
are  about  half  a  yard  in  length  by  fourteen  inches 
wide  and  very  deeply  notched  making  it  a  very 
striking  tree. 

The  neighboring  volanco  of  Izalco  in  eruption  is  a 
scene  of  rare  grandeur.  The  volcano  of  smoke  sent 
out  every  few  minutes  is  tremendous  and  was  very 
clearly  visible  at  Guatemala  100  miles  away,  as  is  the 
fire  by  night.  As  I  spent  a  night  at  Sonsonate  six 
miles  from  the  volcano  the  streams  of  lava  were 
clearly  visible  as  also  the  changes  of  position  on  the 
surface  of  the  molten  mass  which  rolls  sluggishly 
down  as  each  new  mouthful  (several  tons  to  each 
mouthful)  is  vomited  forth  from  the  crater  at  inter- 
vales of  about  twenty  minutes. 

I  went  nearly  to  the  foot  of  the  cone,  and  could 
see  the  convolutions  of  the  mass  change  though  by 
day  lava  is  livid  in  color.  I  have  also  visited  lake 
Ilopango  scene  of  the  submarine  erruption  of  1880 


222  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

but  the  two  craters  are  seven  miles  from  shore  and 
quiescent  and  to  visit  then  requires  a  whole  day  on 
the  lake  so  I  only  saw  them  in  the  dim  distance, 
one  a  sandy  cone  (not  truncated)  the  other  lookinor 
like  a  ruined  fortress  of  dark  rock  500  ft.  in  diam- 
eter and  159  ft.  high. 

The  lake  is  about  15  miles  in  diameter  its  shores 
were  not  peopled  until  since  the  eruption  of  1880, 
as  tradition  had  surrounded  it  with  horrors  which 
make  it  more  dreaded  than  the  Dismal  Swamp  of 
North  Corolina. 

The  annual  festivities  are  now  in  progress  and 
the  city  is  full  of  people  from  elsewhere.  One  new 
car  of  living  pictures  every  day  today  was 'Maceo 
liberating  Cuba',  the  procession  of  one  ward  oc- 
cupied all  four  sides  of  the  great  square  which  was 
full  of  people,  as  were  the  surrounding  porches 
and  balconies.  Here  the  priests  and  sisters  of 
Charity  manage  all  charitable  institutions  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  National  Treasury ;  but  religious  liber- 
ty is  allowed  by  law  and  I  find  some  opportunity  to 
spread  the  Gospel. 

A  letter  he  wrote  to  the  American  Friend:  "I 
trust  that  Friends  will  continue  to  pray  for  Salva^ 
dor,  and  for  means  to  carry  forward  the  struggle 
against  the  stronghold  of  Satan  in  Central  America. 
Never  did  I  see  a  task  so  apparently  superhuman 
as  the  mission  in  this  land,  and  we  must  dwell  con- 
tinually at  the  feet  of  Jesus  for  ability  to  go  for- 
ward from  day  to  day  in  the  work.  Can  we  now 
move  forward  with  a  faith  like  that  of  Cabel  and 
Joshua  against  these  walled  cities." 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  223 

This  was  a  rich  productive  country,  the  land 
nearly  all  under  cultivation,  or  in  grass  for  pasture, 
money  was  plenty  prices  very  high  for  all  kinds  of 
produce  and  of  course  the  cost  of  living  correspond- 
ingly high.  He  hired  a  room  and  lived  much  as  he 
had  at  Tehuantepec  buying  in  the  market  and  eat- 
ing a  cold  dinner  at  home  and  getting  his  breakfast 
and  supper  mostly  at  an  eating  stand,  the  whole 
cost  for  food  being  about  75  cents  per  day.  Wood 
being  scarce  was  very  high  as  was  also  kerosene 
oil,  so  the  use  of  fire  for  cooking  was  expensive. 

In  a  letter  a  little  later  he  said  the  feast  of  San 
Salvador  was  ended  and  he  describes  several  of  the 
cars  which  were  the  chief  attraction  of  the  succeed- 
ing days,  and  after  describing  the  ninth  car  he 
says: 

"The  special  feature  of  the  last  day  was  the  car- 
rying of  an  image  of  Christ  from  Calvary  Church 
to  the  Plaza,  where  it  was  raised  in  a  car  in  imita- 
tion of  two  towers  placed  one  above  the  other,  so 
when  the  car  was  carried  about  by  men  the  top  of 
the  image  of  Christ  surrounded  by  four  small 
angels  was  fully  twenty-seven  feet  from  the  ground. 

There  were  probably  60,000  people  here  to  wit- 
ness this  scene.  Some  curious  performers  were 
at  work  on  a  trapeze  near  the  center  of  the  Plaza, 
and  fireworks  were  constantly  discharged.  The 
f  g  ire  was  life  size  of  wood  and  instead  of  looking 
like  trying  to  teach  the  audience,  it  appeared  f  rght- 
eued  out  of  its  wits. 

After  passing  around  the  square  to  the  front  of 
one  of  the  churches  the  image  was  lowered  in  the 


224  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

tower  and  taken  in  the  arms  of  the  priest  to  the 
catherdral. 

I  never  saw  a  countenance  beaming  forth  idola- 
try so  manifestly  as  did  that  of  this  venerable 
priest.  A  young  man  bearing  his  sweetheart  across 
a  flooded  stream  could  not  have  looked  so  captivat- 
ed by  his  burden. 

From  Calvary  Church  to  the  Plaza  twelve  priests 
headed  the  procession  before  the  image  among 
whom  was  the  bishop  of  Sam  Salvador.  If  it  was 
not  idolatry  then  there  is  no  such  a  thing  as  idola- 
try." 

Desirous  of  studying  the  ways  and  customs  of 
the  people  and  making  the  acquaitance  of  the  sur- 
rounding towns,  on  the  15th,  he  visited  the  Aztec 
village  of  Mexicanos  which  was  founded  by  the 
Aztec  warriors  who  accompanied  Cortex  and  Al- 
varado  in  conquest  of  this  land  in  1525  and  who  re- 
mained here,  marrying  wives  from  thedescendents 
of  a  previous  Aztec  colony,  and  many  of  their  traits 
have  been  handed  down  to  the  present  generation. 

Speaking  of  the  work  in  general  he  says:  "I  have 
distributed  a  large  number  of  tracts  which  with 
conversational  mission  work  are  all  the  avenues  yet 
open  though  I  hope  ere  long  to  secure  a  meeting 
room. 

There  is  more  union  between  church  and  state 
than  I  had  expected  to  find,  the  students  of  all  pub- 
lic institutions  attend  mass  regularly  by  public  au- 
tliority.  This  will  doubtless  hinder  evangelical 
work,  though  religious  lioerty  is  guarnteed  by  the 
constitution  of  1686.     It  is  too  early  as  yet  to  give  a 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  225 

very  definite  idea  as  to  how  the  work  will  open 
up,  but  I  tiust  that  the  Lord  will  fulfill  his  prom- 
ise, "Lo  I  am  with  you  alway  even  unto  the  ends  of 
the  cycles.''  The  people  are  very  kind  and  sociable 
and  I  enjoy  my  stay  in  this  land.  The  scenery 
around  the  city  is  mountainous  and  romantic. 
Quezaltepec,  now  quiescent,  is  the  nearest  volcano, 
and  my  residence  is  upon  its  side. 

In  1659  this  volcano  was  in  violent  eruption.  The 
people  of  Wejapa  hastily  ran  from  the  village  bear- 
ing with  them  an  image  of  St.  Jerome.  The  site 
being  ruined  they  built  a  new  village  and  chapel, 
in  which  for  several  years  they  placed  the  image  in 
penance,  facing  the  wall,  for  not  having  protected 
the  other  site.  The  city  is  at  an  elevation  of  2115 
feet  above  the  sea  and  is  surrounded  by  mountains 
much  higher.  Quezaltepec  being  7370  feet  high 
and  its  crater  1100  feet  deep." 

During  all  his  long  delay  his  family  were  stopping 
with  her  relatives  in  North  Carolina,  but  about  this 
time  they  went  north  to  visit  their  friends  in  New 
York  State,  previous  to  their  intended  departure 
from  New  York  City  to  join  him  in  Salvador. 

Samuel,  uncertain  about  their  exact  where- 
abouts, addressed  some  letters  to  his  brother-in- 
law,  George  W.  Hoover,  of  North  Carolina,  for,  as 
he  said  in  one  of  them,  "he  wished  them  to  know 
how  and  where  he  was,  and  what  he  was  doing." 

One  dated  August  18,  1896,  reads  as  follows  : 
Dear  Brother  : — 

Since  writing  my  last  letter  I  have  been  over  to 
Mejicanos  to  the  feast,  or  fair.     They  had  an  Aztec 


226  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

war  dance.  The  pleople  all  wore  masks  and  curi- 
ous clothing.  On  one  side  they  had  on  their  hel- 
mets, monkeys,  lizards,  dolphins,  etc.,  made  of 
something  imitating  life  very  correctly.  The 
other  side  wore  nearer  Spanish  clothing  of  400 
years  ago.  The  scene  was  the  surrender  of  Gra- 
nada in  1492,  and  the  discourses  were  in  Spanish 
poetry,  probably  taught  them  by  Alvarado  at  the 
time  of  the  conquest,  370  years  ago.  There  was 
mock  fighting  with  swords,  the  whole  ending  with 
the  conversion  and  surrender  of  Boabdil,  the  Moor- 
ish king.  This  last  was  not  historically  true,  for 
Boabdil  died  a  Mohammedan.  The  fight,  however, 
was  very  interesting  and  worth  looking  at.  I  re- 
turned home  and  retired  to  bed.  Doubtless  what 
I  had  seen  made  me  dream  that  I  was  conversing 
with  some  one  about  Mohamet,  and  I  finally  said, 
"Mohamet  believed  himself  to  be  as  truly  inspired 
as  Moses  did. "  The  expression  of  surprise  on  the 
countenance  of  my  friend  awakened  me,  when  I 
noticed  that  my  bed  was  shaking  and  the  windows, 
doors  and  picture  frames  were  rattling,  and  I  was 
in  the  midst  of  an  earthquake.  There  were  five 
movements  in  an  up  and  down  direction,  and  two 
or  three  in  a  sidewise  style,  like  a  horse's  skin 
twitching  to  dislodge  a  horse  liy.  It  was  of  con- 
siderable duration,  but  was  remarkably  gentle. 
There  has  not  been  a  destructive  earthquake  since 
March  19,  1880,  though  the  one  the  12th  of  July 
cracked  off  the  plastering  on  many  houses  in  this 
city.  The  movement  resembled  the  breathing  of 
some  huge  animal. 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  227 

I  deposited  $175  in  the  London  Bank  of  Central 
America,  and  they  gave  me  credit  for  $388.50  Sal- 
vador money.  This  discrepancy  in  currency  makes 
prices  seem  much  more  exorbitant. 

I  have  kept  quite  busy  distributing  tracts  in  vai  i- 
ous  parts  of  the  city  and  in  the  adjoining  villages. 
1  have  had  good  health  all  the  time,  and  consider- 
ing that  I  am  so  far  from  my  family  I  have  been 
getting  on  quite  comfortably. 

I  hope  you  are  all  enjoying  good  health,  and  that 
your  crops  will  enable  you  to  look  hopefully  into 
the  future.  I  have  news  from  Gulielma  and  Joseph 
to  July  18th,  just  one  month  ago.  I  am  desirous  of 
knowing  how  they  look  upon  the  journey  to  this 
South  Land.  Whilst  the  hindrances  to  mission 
work  and  the  cost  of  eatables  and  the  necessaries 
of  life  make  it  unfavorable,  yet  the  Mission  has 
funds  enough  from  month  to  month,  and  it  is  quite 
probable  that  things  will  open  out  quite  favorable 
in  a  few  weeks.  The  people  are  very  kind  to  me, 
and  I  am  getting  quite  a  circle  of  acquaintances. 

Kind  regards  to  you  all." 

To  the  writer  he  wrote  on  Sept.  15,  1896 :  "I 
have  been  studying  antiquties  in  the  National  Li- 
brary and  find  that  the  theory  promulgated  last 
year  by  Le  Plongeon  is  not  new;  for  Brasseur  de 
Bourbourg,  nearly  a  century  ago,  declared  his  be- 
lief that  the  civilization  of  Copan  and  Uxmal  are 
the  oldest  in  the  world,  and  that  this  reached  to 
Atlantas,  and  passed  from  there  to  Egypt  and 
Phoenicia.  I  am  using  every  possible  effort  to  open 
a  meeting  room  this  week." 


228  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

For  some  months  he  worked  single  handed  and 
alone  distributing  tracts  and  bibles,  and  getting 
acquainted  with  the  people,  their  ways  and  cus- 
toms and  conversing  where  opportunity  afforded 
on  religious  subjects.  As  soon  as  it  was  practic- 
able to  get  a  few  together  for  worship,  he  began  to 
break  to  them  the  bread  of  life.  To  scatter  seeds 
of  Protestantism  in  that  Roman  soil,  some  of  which 
took  root  and  began  to  grow.  He  had  heard  of  one 
Penzotti,  who  was  born  in  Switzerland,  but  born 
again  in  Uruguay,  begining  his  labors  in  charge  of 
a  church  in  a  colony  of  Waldenses.  Some  years 
later  he  accompanied  Andrew  M.  Milne,  then  Bible 
agent  for  South  America,  in  a  journey  to  Bolivia. 
He  was  then  a  Methodist  Missionary,  but  on  the 
journey  asked  to  be  allowed  to  try  to  sell  Bibles. 

His  unprecendented  success  led  him  to  enter  the 
Bible  work,  in  which  he  had  traveled  all  the  Span- 
ish-American repubhcs  except  Paraguay  and  Mex- 
ico. He  was  imprisoned  eight  months  in  Peru  a 
few  years  before  for  preaching.  After  his  release 
he  was  appointed  Bible  agent  for  Central  America, 
and  had  twice  spent  a  few  weeks  in  this  republic, 
only  visiting  four  cities. 

So  after  three  months  of  solitary  work,  he  was 
cheered  on  the  morning  of  October  I7th  by  the  un- 
expected but  joyful  entrance  to  his  room  of  Bro. 
Penzotti.  He  makes  mention  of  him  in  a  contribu- 
tion to  the  Central  American  Bulletin  for  Jan.  15, 
1897,  as  follows  :  "I  had  looked  upon  the  coming 
of  Penzotti  as  the  golden  nail  when  the  mission 
work  from  Mexico  moving  southward  and  that  of 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  229 

South  America  moving  northward  should  unite  in 
Salvador,  the  chain  of  missions  from  both  ends  of 
this  vast  continent. 

We  succeeded  in  opening  meetings  at  a  hall  in 
the  central  part  of  the  city,  and  also  at  my  resi- 
dence, so  I  now  have  two  congregations,  about  a 
mile  apart.  Altogether  the  past  few  days  have  been 
the  most  interesting  of  my  life,  and  never  did  I 
have  a  more  cultivated  or  attentive  audience,  about 
120  persons  have  listened  to  the  gospel  message. 
The  attendance  has  been  from  30  to  40  at  each  place 
each  time.  The  Catholic  paper  devoted  almost  an 
entire  page  to  quoting  and  answering  our  dis- 
courses. I  have  met  with  more  opposition,  and  in 
one  sense  more  disappointment  than  in  my  previ- 
ous work  in  Mexico,  but  there  has  been  a  glorious 
opening,  where  a  few  weeks  ago  the  door  seemed 
hermetically  sealed." 

He  wrote  the  "American  Friend"  about  this  time 
as  follows  :  "The  priests  are  giving  their  whole 
sermons  to  attacks  on  Protestantism,  in  general  and 
us  in  particular.  Never  have  I  seen  such  a  stirring 
up  of  the  people  as  here.  It  has  required  both 
strong  nerves  and  divine  grace,  not  only  to  with- 
stand this  opposition  but  previously  to  stay  here 
amid  a  desolating  epidemic  of  yellow  fever.  I  have 
been  asked  by  Catholics  to  pray  by  the  bedside  of 
one  dying  in  the  most  horrid  throes  of  the  agony 
of  black  vomit,  and  by  Americans  to  direct  funeral 
services  of  one  whose  body  had  been  taken  to  the 
cemetery  some  hours  previous  for  burial  to  avoid 
contagion." 


230  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

Thus  with  heroic  courage  he  pushed  on  against 
all  obstacles,  while  widely  separated  from  his  fam- 
ily, who  came  north  in  the  autumn  to  visit  his  rela- 
tives; a  brother  and  sister,  were  living  at  the  old 
homestead  in  Columbus,  N.  Y.;  also  many  who  were 
more  distant  relatives  in  that  vicinity.  Her  poor 
health  delayed  them,  but  by  the  end  of  the  year 
she  improved  so  that  they  decided  to  join  him  in 
Salvador.  On  Jan.  10,  1897,  they  sailed  from  New 
York  for  Panama,  crossing  the  isthumas  and  sail- 
ing up  the  Pacific  coast  on  the  28th,  they  landed  on 
the  soil  of  San  Salvador  to  receive  a  warm  greeting 
and  a  loving  meeting  between  them  after  ten 
months  separation  under  such  trying  circumstan- 
ces. 

The  Central  American  Bulletin  for  April  15th 
contained  the  following  from  Samuel's  pen  : 

"A  large  part  of  our  first  listeners  were  free 
thinkers,  and  free  drinkers,  and  they  now  take  the 
other  side  of  the  street.  They  are  enemies  of 
Romanism,  but  the  preaching  of  regeneration  and 
a  change  of  life  does  not  suit  their  mode  of  life. 
They  soon  tire  of  coming  merely  to  spite  Roman- 
ism. There  is  another  element  which  enjoyed  the 
meetings,  but  their  employers  forbade  their  at- 
tending, and  refused  to  pay  their  wages  if  they  at- 
tended these  meetings." 

"It  would  seem  as  viewed  from  a  human  stand- 
point, that  Romanism  has  been  strengthened  by 
our  presence,  and  has  probably  received  more  than 
it  would  otherwise,  from  the  public  treasury.  Yet 
some  hundreds  of  people  have  listened  to  the  Gos- 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  231 

pel,  and  some  thousands  have  read  tracts.  The 
papers  have  commented,  favorably  and  unfavor- 
ably, about  protestantism,  and  thousands  have  read 
their  comments.  Yet  my  experience  here  has  no 
counterpart  in  my  24  years  v7ork  in  Mexico,  where 
I  never  announced  a  meeting  without  an  audience 
of  hungry  souls  would  gather.  It  would  seem  as 
though  Satan  was  loosed  for  a  little  season  here. 

Personally  the  Saviour's  loving  presence  has 
been  with  me,  and  I  have  felt  joy  in  His  nearness 
and  keeping  power.  Yet  as  I  have  tried  to  present 
Christ  to  the  people  and  meet  such  persistant  in- 
fidelty  and  unbelief,  and  hear  so  many  lawyers 
after  listening,  speak  of  the  sublimity  of  the  dis- 
course, but  presently  state  that  they  do  not  be- 
lieve in  miraclas  because  they  are  opposed  to  reas- 
on, that  Christ  was  a  erood  but  mistaken  philoso- 
pher, that  christian  morality  is  all  right,  but  found- 
ed on  imposture  and  falsehood  that  I  feel  like  a 
flatiron  on  an  iceberg,  and  long  for  the  loving  as- 
sociation of  kindred  hearts  to  help  strengthen  and 
warm  my  soul. 

A  telegram  has  just  announced  the  safe  anchor- 
age of  my  wife  and  son  at  La  Libertad  and  I  meet 
them  at  Acajutla  to-morrow." 

Under  the  date  of  March  8th,  he  wrote:  "We 
were  forced  to  move  again  early  this  month.  Our 
present  location  is  near  my  former  residence.  Mrs. 
Purdie  has  found  more  interest  in  learning  about 
the  protestant  religion  among  our  neighbors,  than 
at  our  previous  location,  and  more  persons  have 
gathered  at  our  conferences.    These  look  like  rays 


232  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

of  hope  amid  the  dense  darkness  and  unconcern 
which  surrounds  us.  Pray  that  a  door  of  utterance 
may  be  opened  before  us  and  many  souls  be  gath- 
ered into  the  fold.  The  health  of  Mrs.  Purdie 
seems  improved  by  coming  to  this  warm  region. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  R.  H.  Bender  arrived  from 
Santa  Rosa,  Honduras,  having  made  the  journey  on 
foot  in  9  nights;  he  joined  with  them  in  the  work 
there,  he  and  Joseph  spending  much  of  the  time  in 
the  adjacent  villages  selling  Bibles  and  portions  of 
scripture  distributing  tracts  and  expaining  the 
:gospel  as  best  they  could,  in  some  places  selling 
$10  or  $12  worth  of  Bibles  in  a  day.  They  were 
kindly  received  by  the  people,  some  of  whom  were 
glad  to  learn  about  the  gospel.  At  one  village,  he 
sold  a  New  Testament  to  a  priest,  who  seemed  to 
be  very  ignorant  of  the  Bible. 

On  May  3d  Samuel  wrote  to  the  C.  A.  Bulletin  as 
follows:  "Our  press  will  soon  be  here  and  we  hope 
ere  long  to  be  using  it  in  the  service  of  the  Master 
against  the  strongholds  of  darkness.  Every  Sab- 
bath the  Catholic  paper  foams  with  wrath  against 
protestants  in  general  and  us  in  particular.  Dur- 
ing this  month  conferences  have  been  held  every 
Sabbath.  The  active  canvas  of  the  the  suburban 
villages  with  Bible  has  been  fruitful.  Aside  from 
those  attending  conferences  many  persons  call  in 
asking  for  tracts  and  inquiring  about  the  protestant 
religion.  During  the  month  I  was  called  to  attend 
the  funeral  services  of  the  daughter  of  an  American 
resident  and  was  thus  privileged  to  addiess  over 
one  hundred  of  the  foreign  population  on  the  most 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  233 

momentous  of  all  themes,  under  the  trees  in  the 
cemetry  and  at  the  resident.  Taking  all  into  con- 
sideration, this  would  seem  to  have  been  much 
more  fruitful  than  the  preceding  months  and  is 
cause  for  thankfulness  and  encouragement.  The 
company  and  cordial  co-operation  of  Bro.  Bender 
has  been  quite  cheering  to  us. 

The  cost  of  Uving  here  is  out  of  proportion  to 
what  I  have  seen  elsewhere.  The  family  next  door 
consisting  of  six  persons,  ate  $5.00  worth  of  fish  in 
one  day,  besides  other  eatables.  Other  things  are 
nearly  in  proportion  and  it  requires  extreme  self- 
denial  to  make  support  possible.  There  is,  how- 
ever, very  little  danger  of  indigestion  at  such 
prices." 

The  press  arrived  and  they  soon  began  its  use  in 
the  printing  of  a  newspaper,  for  the  spread  of  the 
gospel.  The  first  number  being  issued  early  in 
July  under  the  title  "La  Lus  de  la  Verdad"  which 
met  with  tremendous  wrath  from  the  clergy,  and 
he  wrote,  "for  this  reason  we  came  out  with  an 
extra  number  on  the  15th.  Have  been  forced  to 
more  controversy  than  we  like  but  hope  to  be  able 
to  make  it  better  as  we  go  on." 

A  brief  note  on  the  14th,  the  last  from  his  pen 
for  the  Bulletin  closes  by  saying  "I  have  news  of 
the  sudden  death  of  my  sister  at  Columbus,  N.  Y. 
a  month  ago.     May  God  bless  you  all." 


234  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

CLOSING  SCENES. 

Sunrise  and  morning  star 
And  a  clear  call  for  thee 
With  a  glad  welcome  from  afar 
When  thou  hast  crossed  the  sea. 

He  was  busy  with  his  office  worlj  looking  forward 
to  the  rapid  development  of  the  products  of  his 
press,  to  scatter  as  seed  in  this  new  ground  with 
the  hope  of  an  abundant  harvest. 

The  outlook  was  good  for  an  awakening  of  the 
people  and  the  introduction  of  a  new  order  of  things 
which  should  lead  them  from  their  blind  idolaty. 

Thus  the  tide  of  his  life  was  sweeping  steadily 
along  until  the  21st  when  there  came  an  eddy  in 
the  current,  wnich  is  discribed  in  the  last  letter 
from  his  pen,  addressed  to  his  friend  and  former 
fellow  laborer,  Wm.  A.  Walls,  still  in  Mexico,  on 
August  1st,  1897, 

"Your  letter  of  JuIa'^  1st  came  to  hand  yesterday. 
We  have  been  having  pretty  open  controversy 
through  the  papers,  but  it  senms  now  to  have  ceas- 
ed entirely.  Whilst  we  had  no  press  they  attacked 
us  in  every  paper,  and  when  our  first  paper  came 
out  they  banged  away  at  a  fearful  rate  as  though 
they  would  eat  us  alive.  My  'Librito  en  el  Que  los 
Erroses  de  los  Romanis  tas  son  refutados  por 
Santos  papas  g  Concilios'  came  out  and  all  contro- 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  235 

versy  stopped.  If  they  have  anything  to  say  it  is 
in  very  general  terms  against  protestants  in  the 
time  of  Luther. 

Gulielma  had  a  very  sick  time,  was  taken  at  5  P. 
M.  of  Wednesday,  July  21st,  with  very  severe 
spasm  and  pain  followed  by  a  chill  and  intense  fev- 
er lasting  over  a  week.  She  is  now  up  about  the 
house.  The  same  day  she  was  taken,  I  cut  the 
forefinger  of  my  left  hand  through  the  corner  of 
the  nail.  I  fastened  it  back  the  best  I  could  and  it 
seemed  nearly  healed  until  yesterday  indications 
of  lock-jaw  set  in  and  gave  us  some  alarm,  from 
which  I  am  still  suffering,  though  without  any 
alarming  increase.  I  was  otherwise  ready  to  start 
for  Guatemala  to-morrow  on  Steamship  Minneola, 
but  as  it  IS  shall  probably  wait  to  see  what  God  dis- 
poses, into  whose  hands  I  fully  resign  myself, 
knowing  that  he  doeth  all  things  well,  and  that 
when  he  calls  like  Samuel  of  old  I  will  say  'Speak 
for  thy  servant  heareth.' 

I  heard  of  the  death  of  dear  Isaac  Sharp,  whom 
we  so  dearly  loved.  My  sister,  Lucinda,  was  taken 
with  pleurisy  on  May  10th.  After  10  days  in  bed 
she  was  again  about  the  house  doing  housework, 
until  7  P.  M.  of  June  10th,  when  she  was  attacked 
by  a  violent  spell  of  coughing,  lasting  four  hours 
and  terminating  in  death.  One  by  one  the  Lord 
calls  us  from  works  to  rewards,  the  crown  of  right- 
eousness. 

This  afternoon  four  men  besides  Bro.  Burnett 
and  Bro.  Bender  and  ourselves  at  meeting,  I  at- 
tempted to  read  a  selection  from  2d  Timothy  2 


236  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

Chap,  and  part  of  4th,  but  Joseph  had  to  read,  some 
hymn  singing  and  I  briefly  attempted  to  speak  fo 
Paul's  feeling  in  the  expectation  of  a  near  approach 
of  death  and  his  firm  assurance  of  life  especially  in 
2d  Chap.  11th  verse.  Stiffness  of  the  jaw  prevent- 
ed my  speaking  much  and  under  the  circumstances 
great  solemnity  prevailed. 

The  letter  ends  without  signature,  the  pen  which 
had  been  in  such  constant  use,  through  all  these 
years  of  service  was  laid  down  forever;  reminding 
us  of  Hogarth  the  great  painter,  who  in  his  last 
moments  dashed  off  the  similitude  of  a  painter's 
pallete  broken  and  then  threw  down  his  brush  to 
be  used  no  more. 

It  seems  that  in  that  torrid  region  lock-jaw  is 
quite  prevalent  and  any  one  with  merely  a  slight 
wound  coming  in  any  way  in  contact  with  the  soil 
is  liable  to  inoculation  with  this  fatal  disease.  By 
the  next  day  the  disease  had  progressed  so  far  as 
to  cause  intense  suffering  which  he  bore  with  pati- 
ent resignation  for  four  days  and  nights  until  on 
the  morning  of  August  6th,  1897,  the  freed  spirit 
took  its  flight,  leaving  the  poor  worn  body  at  rest. 

But  few  particulars  of  these  last  days  are  re- 
corded, but  on  the  7th  they  wrote  this  note  which 
was  sent  to  the  Central  A.  Bulletin  and  also  printed 
to  send  to  their  friends  in  the  North  and  elsewhere. 
Beloved  friends: 

"Grace  be  to  you  and  peace  from  God  our  Fath- 
er, and  from  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  blessed  be  God, 
even  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jeous  Christ  the  Fath- 
er of  mercy,  and  the  God  of  all  comfort,  who  com- 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  237 

fortelh  us  in  all  our  tribulations;"  our  Father  in 
His  all  wise  providence  has  seen  fit  to  take  from 
our  midst  our  beloved  husband  and  father,  and 
promoted  him  to  a  higher  service.  After  four  days 
of  intense  suffering  from  lock-jaw  he  quietly  fell 
asleep  in  the  arms  of  Jesus.  August  6th,  at  5:20 
A.  M.,  His  last  words  were:  "this  is  very  hard  suf- 
fering, but  Paradise  will  pay  for  it;  my  sickness  is 
more  serious  than  you  think,  there  is  no  remedy 
but  to  have  faith  in  God; — God's  will  be  done;"  then 
he  said  to  one  of  the  natives  standing  by:  "I  have 
had  much  pleasure  in  commencing  the  work  of  the 
Lord  in  Salvador,  and  I  wish  the  eminent  Salva- 
dorians  to  continue  the  work  I  have  commenced;" 
then  passed  away  repeating  "Jesus."  Last  Lord's 
day  he  preached  for  the  last  time. 

Thus  having  fought  a  good  fight,  finished  his 
course,  and  kept  the  faith  He  has  gone  to  receive 
a  crown  of  righteousness  which  the  Lord  the  right- 
eous judge  shall  give  him  in  that  day.  We  laid  his 
body  away  to  await  the  resurrection  morn,  when 
the  Lord  Himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a 
shout  .  .  .  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first. 
To  this  day  we  looked  forward. 

We  wish  to  extend  our  sincere  thanks  to  the 
American  citizens  of  this  city,  for  their  kind  assist- 
ance and  liberality  during  our  late  bereavement 
through  which  we  were  called  to  pass  and  we  pray 
heavens  richest  blessing  may  rest  upon  them. 
Yours  till  He  comes, 
Gulielma  Purdie — Joseph  M.  Purdie. 

This  beautiful  expression  of  Christian  resignation 


238  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

and  peaceful  submission  to  the  Lord's  will,  in  its 
sweetness  and  tenderness,  is  seldom  equaled,  never 
excelled. 

On  the  12th  she  wrote  to  the  C.  A.  Bulletin  pub- 
lished in  the  October  number  as  was  also  the  above 
card  as  follows: 
Dear  Brother: — 

With  much  sorrow  and  sadness  of  heart,  1  will 
try  to  write  you  a  few  lines  to  let  you  know  what 
we  are  expecting  to  do  if  it  is  the  Lord 's  will.  Two 
days  before  the  departure  of  my  dear  husband,  he 
told  me  to  have  Joseph  finish  the  paper,  which  is 
only  one  side,  and  a  book  which  he  had  commenced, 
which  will  take  all  of  September,  then  he  said  sell 
the  press  and  take  Joseph  back  to  North  Carolina 
for  I  don't  want  him  to  stay  here  without  I  could 
stay  with  him.  One  day  we  set  him  up  on  the  bed 
and  he  felt  some  better  and  said  "well  I  thought  I 
was  going  to  see  Brother  Dillon,  but  if  it  is  the 
Lord's  will  that  I  get  well,  I  am  willing,  and  if  noti 
I  am  ready,  the  Lord's  will  be  done."  He  was  help- 
less four  days. 

Pray  for  us  in  this  great  affliction,  and  pray  that 
this  dark  land  will  not  be  left  without  missionaries. 
"We  pray  that  the  Lord  will  send  others  soon;  that 
this  place  will  not  be  left  in  darkness  where  there 
are  so  many  souls  to  be  saved.  We  feel  that  the 
time  is  near  when  this  people  will  be  willing  to 
listen  to  the  gospel  of  Christ.  I  am  feeling  sad 
and  not  very  well,  so  will  close.  May  the  blessings 
of  the  Lord  rest  upon  you  all." 

And  there  in  the  midst  of  strangers  with  only 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  239 

Brother  Bender  to  help  them,  they  remained  for  a 
few  months  completing  as  far  as  possible  the 
work  on  hand  before  leaving  for  the  homeland. 

Heroic  as  their  lives  had  been  in  the  past,  they 
were  not?  less  so  now  that  their  leader  had  fallen. 

Finally  bidding  farewell  to  the  sorrowing  ones 
who  had  come  to  love  them  and  who  mourned  their 
departure,  and  a  last  sad  look  at  the  sacred  spot 
where  rested  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  beloved  hus- 
band and  father,  they  once  more  turned  their  faces 
toward  the  fatherland.  Taking  steamer  to  New 
York  and  then  by  rail  to  North  Carolina  they  soon 
joined  her  people  there,  and  in  a  humble  home  near 
them  she  has  since  lived,  still  interested  in  active 
efforts  for  those  around  her  in  the  Sunday  School, 
and  in  social  work. 

Joseph  took  a  course  in  Guilford  College, 
graduating  in  June  1906  and  soon  after  married 
Una  Bulla  of  North  Carolina  and  on  August  25th. 
started  for  Cuba  and  accepting  work  in  Friends 
Missions  there  is  now  Dec.  1907  conducting  the 
mission  at  Holquin  province  of  Santiago,  and  re- 
joicing in  a  daughter  added  to  their  household. 


240  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

In   Memoriam. 

"Build  thee  more  stately  mansions,  O,  my  soul 
As  the  swift  seasons  roll  ! 
Leave  thy  bow-vaulted  past; 
Let  each  new  temple  nobler  than  the  last, 
Shut  thee  from  heaven  with  a  dome  more  vast 
Till  thou  at  length  art  free, 

Leaving   thine  out-grown  shell  by  life's  unresting   sea." 

Holmes. 

Thus  in  the  prime  of  his  hfe  in  the  meridian  of 
his  usefulness,  when  hopes  were  high  and  the 
promise  good  for  a  great  work,  the  developement 
of  the  publishing  house,  as  very  few  could  do  it, 
his  sudden  death  was  a  heavy  blow  not  only  to  his 
family  and  Friends  but  to  his  co-workers  of  the  as- 
sociation and  its  leaders. 

Few  persons  are  so  richly  endowed  by  inherit- 
ance as  a  historian,  as  a  linquist,  as  a  speaker,  a 
fine  mechanic  and  a  student  of  nature,  with  a  mem- 
ory in  all  these  lines  which  never  failed  him;  with 
the  gifts  of  a  statesman  and  the  tact  of  a  diplomat 
his  varied  contact  with  all  classes  of  people  had  de- 
veloped such  an  insight  of  character,  that  he  was 
ready  for  any  emergency  and  succeeded  in  run- 
ning all  branches  of  the  business  with  very  little 
friction  never  having  any  quarrels  or  misunder- 
standings in  his  business  affairs. 

With  this  versatility  of  resources  he  was  able  at 
any  time  to  throw  his  undivided  energy  into  the 
work  before  him. 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  241 

With  these  gifts,  led  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Master 
to  whom  he  ever  looked  for  guidance  he  was  pre- 
pared to  use  them  all  for  His  glory.  Frequently 
going  to  the  Lord  in  prayer,  he  was  able  to  break 
the  bread  of  life  to  the  hungry  souls  around  him 
so  that  many  were  fed. 

Thus  we  find  him  faithful  unto  death  and  pre- 
pared to  receive  a  crown  of  righteousness. 

Promoted  from  a  blessed  life  here  to  one  of  glory 
beyond;  a  field  perhaps  of  greater  usefulness  at 
least  of  wider  knowledge  and  deeper  enjoyment, 
we  may  well  rejoice  with  him  and  bid  him  God- 
speed. 

Thus  ended  this  life,  ever  faithful  to  duty, 
strong,  brave,  heroic  it  was  tuned  into  a  sweet 
echo  of  the  life  of  God. 

In  that  tropic  land  far  away  from  the  home  of  his 
youth  and  the  main  fields  of  his  labors,  where  so 
many  had  learned  to  admire  and  love  him,  they 
were  not  permitted  to  stand  with  sad  hearts  around 
his  bier,  or  drop  a  tear  into  his  lonely  grave.  But 
we  may  imagine  that  members  of  the  heavenly 
host  in  that  last  hour  of  suffering  were  gathered 
around  the  clay  tenement  ready  to  accompany  the 
freed  spirit  in  the  glad  procession  up  the  palm 
strewn  pathway  to  the  courts  above.  While  from 
heaven's  battlements  came,- 

Sweet  songs  of  the  angels  just  drifting  afar, 
O'er  the  air  of  that  beautiful  morn; 
Hosannas  of  joy  from  the  glorified  throng 
Who  sang  peace  when  the  Savior  was  born 
While  the  sky-breezes  swept  the  Eolian  strains 
From  the  windows  of  Heaven  as  He  passed; 


242  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

And  glad  seraphs  stood  waitinof  to  welcome  him  in 
At  the  beautiful  portals  at  last. 

His  friend  W.  A,  Walls  soon  after  his  death 
wrote  to  the  American  Friend  a  brief  sketch  of  his 
work,  published  in  the  issue  for  Sept.  30th,  which 
is  full  of  interest  throughout  but  some  of  it  has  al- 
ready been  fully  given  to  the  reader,  and  need  not 
be  repeated,  so  we  quote  as  follows: 

"In  1871  some  friends  in  Indiana  Yearly  Meet- 
ing felt  the  condition  of  Mexico  laid  upon  their 
hearts,  and  met  to  confer  upon  the  subject.  One 
of  them  remarked  'Well,  we  can't  do  anything,  we 
have  no  one  in  view  who  would  go  out  as  a  mission- 
ary.' Murray  Shipley  interposed,  'There  is  a 
young  man  outside  who  wants  to  talk  to  us,'  and 
introduced  Samuel  Purdie  to  the  company.  He 
told  them  in  simple  language  of  his  conviction  that 
the  Lord  had  called  him  to  work  in  Mexico,  and 
that  he  had  studied  Spanish.  About  the  end  of 
the  year,  he  and  his  wife  reached  Matamoras  to  be- 
gin this  new  work. 

One  clause  in  the  letter  of  instruction  reads, 
'We  send  you  to  Mexico,  not  to  teach  pecuharities, 
but  to  preach  Jesus  Christ'  This  seemed  to  be 
the  central  thought  and  motive  power  of  his  work. 

Our  brother's  work  was  great  and  more  varied 
than  that  of  any  other  missionary  I  have  ever  met. 
When,  in  1880,  I  saw  him  translating,  setting  copy 
with  his  own  hand,  and  running  the  press  with  his 
own  foot,  I  was  not  especially  surprised:  was  he 
not  a  missionary?  And  were  not  all  missionaries 
thoroughly  consecrated,  hands  and  feet,  tongue  and 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  243 

pen?  I  know  better  now,  I  have  seen  a  good  many 
missionaries  since  then,  but  not  another  Samuel 
Purdie.  Some  of  our  brethren  are  active  in  preach- 
ing, and  perhaps  even  more  so  in  pastoral  visiting 
than  he.  Possibly  some  may  have  written  as 
much,  though  I  only  know  of  one,  but  no  one  has 
invented  as  he  did  his  own  stereotyping  machines, 
nor  worked  hour  after  hour,  and  day  after  day  run- 
ning a  heavy  press,  printing  sometimes  a  million 
pages  a  year,  with  no  help  but  such  as  was  entirely 
hired  by  himself.  Then  when  he  came  to  build  the 
meeting  house  in  Gomez  Farias,  he  had  to  make 
the  sash  and  put  in  the  glass,  for  none  of  the  Mex- 
ican carpenters  there  had  ever  seen  a  sash,  much 
less  made  one.  His  manual  labor  saved  the  Soci- 
ety at  least  two  men's  salaries,  and  made  the 
rather  scant  mission  fund  do  wonders.  Ours  was 
for  a  long  time  the  only  evangelical  press  in  Mexi- 
co. He  made  it  a  rule  to  print  some  good  work 
each  year  besides  the  paper  and  tracts  and  pamph- 
lets. Every  work  begun  was  finished,  with  one 
notable  exception,  and  as  in  most  of  them  Samuel 
Purdie  had  to  translate  the  whole,  to  read  and 
correct  the  proofs, set  up  a  good  deal  of  it,  and  then 
to  bind  the  finished  work,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  was 
no  sinecure.  Lives  of  Penn,  Elizabeth  Fry,  George 
Fox,  Grellet,  Manual  of  Holiness,  and  other  books 
were  pubhshed  this  way. 

He  had  an  unusual  knowledge  of  Spanish,  and 
besides  translating  one  work  each  year  wrote  a 
good  deal  of  original  matter.  He  also  had  to  write 
a  good  deal  in  English  for  Friends   who  wished 


244  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

news  of  the  work.  Owing  to  a  limitation  in  funds 
he  had  not  a  very  large  library,  but  he  had  mas- 
tered every  book  in  it.  One  of  the  secrets  of  his 
being  able  to  do  so  much  was  to  have  no  idle  mo- 
ments, another  was  to  do  things  by  a  plan,  and  the 
chief  was  to  ask  the  Lord's  direction  before  begin- 
ning, and  His  help  for  carrying  through  a  work. 

So  fell  a  Prince  in  Israel,  one  who  had  been  tried 
in  many  ways, — perils  by  sea,  by  war,  (the  city 
having  been  besieged  five  months  while  he  was  at 
work).  He  stuck  to  his  post  through  two  small- 
pox epidemics,  and  one  visit  of  yellow  fever  so 
deadly  that  there  was  hardly  a  house  where  there 
was  not  one  dead. 

If  the  name  of  Quaker  is  held  in  honor  all  through 
Mexico  and  Southwest  Texas,  we  owe  it  chiefly  to 
the  faithful  and  consecrated  life  of  Samuel  Purdie. 

For  when  I  was  working  near  Victoria,  Texas, 
two  years  ago,  I  enquired  of  a  man  who  employs  a 
good  many  Mexicans,  if  there  are  any  Protestants 
among  them.  'Yes'  said  he,  'I  have  some  Qua- 
kers from  Matamoras,  and  if  there  ever  were  gen- 
uine Christians  there  they  are. '  Samuel  Purdie 's 
life  was  not  spent  in  vain." 

Rev.  Luther  Rees,  Chairman  of  theC.  A.  Associ^ 
ation  wrote  under  date  of  Dec.  20,  1907: 

"I  believe  he  did  a  splendid  work  in  Salvador. 
It  was  my  privilege  to  visit  Salvador  last  year  and 
while  there  I  learned  that  he  is  st.ill  remembered 
by  many.  He  obtained  access  to  several  of  the 
government  officials  and  his  public  services  were 
well  attended.   Mr.  R.  H.  Bender  our  present  mis- 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  245 

sionary  in  Salvador  was  Bro.  Purdie's  associate 
•when  he  passed  away.  The  work  in  that  RepubHc 
has  been  greatly  blessed." 

The  following  translation  from  the  Spanish  by 
Joseph  M.  Purdie  is  furnished  us  from  a  co-worker 
in  Mexico,  Andres  Campillo. 

"I  would  have  much  to  say  concerning  the  hon- 
orable and  humanitarian  virtues  which  adorned  that 
man,  true  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  am  deeply 
sorry  not  to  have  the  capacity  for  such  a  task,  nor 
is  my  language  sufficient  to  express  my  thoughts. 
Nevertheless  I  feel  in  my  heart  something  that 
makes  me  speak  and  you  know  that  out  of  its 
abundance  the  mouth  speaketh.  Perhaps  on  this 
account  it  makes  me  say  that  that  man  whom  I 
love  and  to  whom  I  owe  so  much,  was  in  this 
world  the  perfect  model  of  meekness  and  evangel- 
ical charity. 

He,  in  all  his  acts  upon  earth,  obtained  all  the 
blessings  which  his  divine  Master  taught  him  and 
whom  he  faithfully  served.  He  was  poor  among 
the  poor  yet  had  no  need,  neither  did  he  ever  lack 
goods  in  order  to  impart  them  to  his  fellow  men. 
He  did  not  make  over  much  of  material  goods  be- 
cause he  saw  others  that  were  better  in  the  spir- 
itual life.  Every  being  in  human  creation  he  con- 
sidered as  himself  because  they  were  created  by 
the  same  God,  his  Creator,  he  never  lost  an  oppor- 
tunity to  teach  the  way  which  man  must  follow  to 
attain  true  happiness.  I  who  for  a  long  time 
walked  far  and  estranged  from  that  way  owe  it  to 
him  that  I  found  it,  and  I  began  to  walk  in  it  al- 


246  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

though  with  difficulties  on  account  of  my  weakness. 
I  distinguished  that  precious  path  and  this  not  only 
by  the  preaching  and  the  reading  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  because  it  seems  that  I  had  ears  and 
could  not  hear,  but  by  the  living  example  which  in 
the  practice  of  my  daily  life  was  always  seen. 
Therefore  his  ministry  as  an  apostle  of  the  truth 
he  faithfully  fulfilled.  The  obstacles  and  the  evils 
which  daily  present  themselves  in  the  Christian 
way  he  conquered,  and  to-day  in  the  celestial  home 
he  joyfully  awaits  the  happy  day  in  which  the  Lord 
shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see 
him  as  he  is." 

Aug.  15,  1906.  Quintero,  Mex. 

Also  the  following,  translated  by  the  same: 
"In  the  years  1883  84  I  became  acquainted  with 
brother  Purdie.  I  was  living  in  San  Fernando  and 
had  recently  married  the  second  time.  I  was  30 
years  of  age  and  he  was  about  45.  At  that  time  he 
was  visiting  the  southern  part  of  the  State  of  Ta- 
maulipas  where  they  had  already  established  Gos- 
pel labors  and  had  congregations  in  Jicotencatl, 
Gomez  Farias,  Ocampo  and  Antigus  Morelos.  I 
was  not  then  a  Protestant,  neither  was  I  a  Catholic, 
although  all  in  my  town  considered  me  as  such. 
Samuel  was  introduced  to  me  by  Julio  Gonzalez 
Gea  who  was  living  in  San  Fernando,  and  had  a 
boys  school  supported  by  the  parents  of  the  pupils. 
It  was  not  long  before  I  became  intimately  ac- 
quainted with  Mr.  Purdie  and  in  the  year  1885,  in 
the  month  of  April  I  left  San  Fernando  to  go  to  St. 
Matamoras  to  make  my  home  there.    Here  Sam- 


OP  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  247 

uel  had  been  living  since  the  year  1872  and  had  or- 
ganized a  church  andinstituted  twoprimary  schools; 
one  for  boys  and  one  for  girls.  In  the  former  of 
these  schools  I  was  employed  as  a  teacher  in  Span- 
ish and  morals;  I  also  directed  the  same  classes  in 
the  girls  school  at  that  time  under  the  care  of 
Miss  Julia  Ballinger. 

The  conduct  which  Samuel  observed  toward  me 
was  not  only  that  of  a  friend  but  also  of  a  tender 
and  loving  father.  He  was  always  mindful  of  me 
and  in  a  decided  manner  helped  me  to  lead  a  life 
which  in  every  sense  was  entirely  new  to  me,  since 
in  the  first  place  it  was  the  first  time  that  I  had 
left  for  a  new  town  with  my  family.  The  inter- 
course with  the  people  that  forned  the  church  and 
the  society  of  that  city  in  general,  which  at  other 
times  I  had  visited  prompted  by  another  motive, 
was  also  new.  So  that,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
amiableness  of  Mr.  Purdie  I  would  have  found  my- 
self almost  isolated  even  in  the  midst  of  a  large 
city. 

In  the  year  1886  the  church  in  Matamoras  pro- 
posed my  name  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry 
and  brother  Purdie  as  a  minister  of  the  church  and 
Superintendent  of  the  Friends  Mission  in  Mexico, 
on  the  appointed  day  gave  me  the  hand  of  fellow- 
ship in  the  work  of  Christ.  I  never  shall  forget 
that  solemn  act  which  so  forcibly  moved  my  being 
and  which  I  felt  in  the  depths  of  my  soul!  Prom 
that  time  Mr.  Purdie  and  I  became  inseparable  al- 
ways working  one  by  the  side  of  the  other  and  I 
receiving  his  friendly  counsel  and  taking  advan- 


248  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

tage  of  his  example.  He  was  sincere,  lovable,  dili- 
gent, active  and  constant  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 
I  always  found  him  working  intellectually  or  me- 
chanically. 

In  1887  for  reasons  unknown  to  me,  the  head  of 
the  mission  was  changed  to  C.  Victoria  and  after 
two  months  I  went  to  work  with  Samuel  in  that 
city  continuing  in  evangelical  labors.  In  the  same 
year  in  the  month  of  September,  a  mixed  school 
was  organized  with  about  thirteen  students  which 
we  directed.  The  following  year  we  were  obliged 
to  diviile  the  school,  my  sister  Gertrudis  taking 
charge  of  the  girls  and  I  the  boys.  These  schools 
have  more  than  sixty  pupils  each  on  roll. 

Early  in  the  year  '88  Samuel  and  I  visited  the 
towns  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State  on  horse- 
back beginning  with  Llera,  Jicotencatl,  Gomez  Fa- 
rias, Ocampo,  Nuevo  Morelos,  Antiaguo  Morelos 
and  Quintero  where  we  had  gospel  services  and 
where  we  were  comforted  by  revivals  in  those 
places. 

On  our  return  to  Victoria  brother  Purdie  began 
publishing  a  paper  called  "ElClarin,"  an  evangeli^ 
cal  and  liberal  periodical  which  somewhat  troubled 
the  Catholics  to  such  a  degree  that  even  after  stop- 
ping its  publication  I  was  arrested  in  the  police 
headquarters  for  fifteen  days  on  account  of  an  ar- 
ticle which  I  published  in  another  paper  called 
"Tamaulipas"  in  which  I  called  attention  to  the 
authorities  to  certain  disorders  that  were  being 
committed  in  the  center  of  the  city.  At  this  time 
brother  Purdie  was  very  much  troubled  because 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  249 

of  my  arrest  but  God  provided  good  friends  and 
they  arranged  matters  in  a  satisfactory  way  so 
that  I  was  set  at  liberty  continuing  in  my  labors. 

In  the  same  year  '88  we  organized  our  church  at 
C.  Victoria  and  we  held  our  services  in  the  school 
house  situated  in  the  street  Matamoras  and  No. 
10  which  now  is  occupied  by  Penn  Institute  for 
girls  and  young  ladies. 

In  the  year  '93,  94  Samuel  began  building  a  Rest 
Cottage  for  ministers  in  the  summer,  where  I  am 
at  present. 

Brother  Purdie  worked  personally  on  this  aided 
by  some  carpenters.  It  is  a  two-story  frame 
house.  He  made  many  trips  to  Victoria  to  bring 
tools  and  other  things  necessary  for  the  work. 
Some  of  these  trips  he  made  on  horsback  accom- 
panied by  some  brother  who  wished  to  go  with 
him. 

In  one  of  these  journeys  there  occurred,  so  sim- 
ple and  candid  an  incident  that  I  wish  to  relate  it. 
Among  the  workmen  who  were  helping  him  in  Go- 
mez Farias  there  was  a  boy  whom  I  raised  and 
recognized  as  a  son  (his  name  is  Elias).  On  one  of 
this  boy's  expeditions  to  the  Sierra  he  caught  a 
squirrel  and  it  occurre^i  to  him  to  send  it  to  Vic- 
toria as  a  present  to  my  wife.  As  there  was  not  a 
safer  way  to  send  it  than  by  Samuel  he  asked  him 
to  take  the  squirrel.  Samuel  had  no  difficulty  in 
granting  the  desire  of  the  boy.  He  tied  a  string 
around  the  animal's  neck;  and  put  it  in  his  coat 
pocket  and  tied  the  string  to  a  button  hole,  as  if  he 
carried  a  watch  there.    The  idea  was  curious  in- 


250  LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

deed  as  many  who  saw  him  thought  that  he  carried 
a  watch  there  but  instead  the  squirrel  would  peep 
out  of  his  pocket.  Two  days  were  necessary  to 
get  to  Victoria  and  during  that  time  it  was  neces- 
sary to  feed  the  squirrel,  a  thing  which  Samuel  did 
with  all  diligence,  feeding  the  little  animal  some 
bananas.  As  soon  as  I  found  out  that  he  had  ar- 
rived at  his  destination  I  went  to  see  him.  It  was 
about  six  in  the  afternoon.  He  was  sitting  at  the 
table  with  his  wife  and  son  Joseph,  I  saluted  him 
and  we  talked  awhile  then  he  said  'Elias  sends  Pau- 
chita  a  little  present,'  and  on  saying  this  he  pulled 
the  string  that  he  had  through  the  buttonhole  and 
took  out  the  squirrel  which  he  handed  to  me.  We 
all  celebrated  this  act  worthy  of  him  as  it  was 
from  a  magnanimous  heart.  Many  of  his  actions 
such  as  I  have  just  told  manifested  the  candidness 
of  a  child. 

He  always  showed  himself  affectionate  and  pleas- 
ing to  all,  large  and  small.  His  sincere  love  was 
felt  everywhere  that  he  went.  And  his  decision 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  so  confi* 
dent  that  as  I  have  said  before,  his  example  has 
caused  me  to  be  firm  in  the  same  work  and  to  be  in 
this  town  where  he  left  so  many  signs  of  love  to 
humanity  and  his  decision  to  serve  the  Divine  Mas- 
ter. 

Several  trees  which  he  imported  from  other 
parts  of  the  world  are  here  giving  fruit;  cinnamon, 
rose  apple,  currant  and  others  whose  names  I  do 
not  remember.  But  the  most  pleasant  thing  to 
me  and  to  the  servants  of  Christ   is  that  he  was  a 


OF  SAMUEL  A.  PURDIE  251 

powerful  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God  to  sow 
the  good  seed  of  the  word  of  God  in  the  liearts  of 
the  inhabitants  of  this  town  and  of  this  State. 

The  last  time  that  we  saw  each  other  was  in  C. 
Victoria  in  my  home.  We  were  both  leaving;  he, 
for  the  Repubhc  of  Salvador  and  I,  for  Mata* 
moras.  "We  had  a  lunch  at  home  and  there  we  bade 
each  other  farewell.  I  never  saw  him  again  but 
his  correspondence  from  that  Republic  was  con- 
stant telling  me  of  his  Gospel  labors.  His  faithful 
wife  and  loving  son  accompanied  him  there  also. 
After  some  years  of  struggling  in  Salvador  against 
at  fanaticism  and  ignorance  he  fell  asleep  in  the 
Lord;  but  his  works  follow  him  as  the  Scripture 
says,  and  if  God  permit  I  hope  that  we  shall  see 
each  other  some  day  before  the  presence  of  our 
God  never  more  to  part  again. 

Santiago  G.  Gonzalez." 

Gomez  Farias,  Aug.  16,  1906. 

One  more  of  God's  faithful  children  gone  from 
service  here  to  broader  fields  beyond. 
Hail  and  farewell. 

THE    END. 


SAMUEL   A.  PURDIE 

His  Life   and    Letters;    His   Work   as   a   Missionary 

and  Spanish  Writer  and  Publisher  in 

Mexico  and  Central  America, 

With  an  Introduction  by  Allen  Jay. 


ILLUSTRATED,    CLOTH,    250  PAGES,   $L00 

From  the  press  of  the  Publishing  Association 
of  Friends,  Plainfield,  Ind. 


P>orii  and  reaied  in  Clienanoo  coiintj^  N.  Y.,  amid  humble 
surroundings  and  witli  but  limited  educational  advantages,  he 
went  to  North  Carolina,  soon  after  the  Civil  War.  He  taught  school 
two  years  among  P'riends;  two  moie  among  the  Freedmen; 
studied  Spanish,  and  near  the  close  of  1871  went  to  Mexico,  opened 
a  mission  and  school  at  Mataraoros,  soon  had  a  printing  press, 
published  a  monthly  paper,  school  books,  tracts  and  religious 
books,  which  acquired  a  wide  circulation  in  Spanish  America. 
After  twenty-five  years  in  Mexico  he  went  to  San  Salvador  and 
died  there  in  1897.  This  is  no  ordinary  biography,  but  the 
launching  of  a  great  missionary  enterprise  that  will  be  read  with 
thrilling  interest  in  this  age  of  missions. 


WHAT     CRITICS    SAY 


''I  find  it  very  interesting."— John  B.  Wood,  Camden,  N.J. ,  editor 
of  the  Christian  Arbitrator. 

"I  have  found  great  intei^est  in  reading  thy  Life  of  Samuel  A. 
Purdie.  He  was  a  very  remarkable  man  and  a  devoted  servant  of 
the  Master;  and  thy  narrative  gives  a  clear  idea  of  his  work  and 
varied  experiences."— J. \mes  W^ood,  Mount  Kisco,  N.  Y. 


3@"For  sale  by  the  author.    Sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  price. 
Address 

J.  P.  KNOWLES,         ^         ^         Smyrna,  N.  Y. 


